A New Begininng
by VFFW
Summary: A continuation of 'Lucky We Are The Walking Wounded' and 'It Worked Out For You'. Some OC's from previous stories and other Walking Dead characters from the first 5 seasons with Jesus thrown in.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the last completed work in my AU of The Walking Dead. I have another one (the absolute last part of the saga) somewhat written. My muse started kicking my ass so I may complete it. I'm finishing up the two stories on AO3 and decided to post this one as well. I've said before I like to complete my stories. **

**Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to read this. There are a lot of great stories in fanfiction so I'm appreciative I can garner some of your time and attention.**

* * *

Michonne looked up from the little kiddie pool Jasper and Andy were playing in when Rand showed up, sat down and passed her an envelope. "It was dropped off by one of the Crazy Ass Bunker residents."

She looked at the front and saw _'Michonne and Daryl'_. She put it to the side and finished playing with her son and niece. She'd wait until Daryl was off watch before reading it. They'd talked about Rick and the others off and on since the icebreaker a few weeks ago. Michonne knew Daryl was still upset about Carol, more so than Rick kicking him out of Alexandria.

She missed Judith. Not that she spent a lot of time with the little girl until the trip to Alexandria, but smelling the baby smell at the prison had reminded her of Andre and she'd cried for the first time after she put him down. She'd blocked off emotions as she dragged Mike and Terry around going nowhere. One foot in front of the other, like the dead she walked with.

She felt bad for Carl, losing his sister. Rick and Carol, too. She understood what they'd gone through. It wasn't right, little kids dying before their parents. She shook it off. She'd always miss Andre, always, but Jasper was here and now. She couldn't change what happened so she was going to enjoy what she had. She had a good man and a beautiful son.

At dinner that night the 'spa' patrol details for November were ironed out. Most of the people at the Castle couldn't remember a time when Rand and she had been on patrol, they'd never done one, a whole one anyway, so there were good natured comments about stopping at all the communities to get their hair and nails done. The discussion turned to Jake, Dominic, Tammy and Jonathan Wilmer's upcoming trip to Tennessee with the residents going over all the preparations being made to ensure a safe return for the group, which included trying to use the homing pigeons as a test.

After dinner she and Daryl went back to their room to put Jasper to bed. She passed it to him after they put him in his crib. "It was dropped off," she answered his unasked question. "Someone from the group."

He sat down on the sofa, grunted and opened it. She sat beside him and put her head on his shoulder.

_Dear Michonne and Daryl,_

_I didn't see you when I left and I'm kind of mad at both of you. I wanted to talk to you again and find out why you didn't come back. But I talked to my dad about what happened in Alexandria and I guess I understand why you didn't._

_I didn't know what my dad did until we left Alexandria. So I don't blame you. A lot anyway. Daryl, my dad wouldn't have killed you. He was crazy. Like Sasha. _

_He's better now. We all are. Crazy Ass is a good place. Not as good as a castle with brick walls. Tony and Ash are nice. They left my dad in charge when they went to the first meeting so they trust him. _

_I want to spend some time with you, my dad doesn't have to be there, at the next ice cream social and hear more about The Castle. And maybe talk about Judith. I miss her a lot. I miss Carol. I miss Enid._

"Who's Enid?" Daryl looked at her.

"It must have been someone in Alexandria or maybe the Hilltop place," she replied.

"Ice cream social," he snorted.

She laughed a little. "It's kind of funny."

"We're goin', aren't we?"

"I think we should."

"I guess. We kinda left early the last time."

"We did. We should spend time with the other leaders."

"They seem alright."

"Are you going to be okay?"

He put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Yeah. Gonna have to talk to him sometime, 'Chonne, if we keep doin' these things. Got over bein' kicked out a long time ago."

"We'll be busy with Castle business," she replied with a grin.

He smiled back. "Yep. Castle business. Never thought I'd be glad to handle Castle business." He held the letter up and ruffled it.

Michonne sighed. "Let's finish it."

_Anyway, I can't wait to see you both and your son. I didn't really get a chance last time. Jasper's a weird name. How did you come up with that? _

She rolled her eyes. "Jasper is not a weird name," she protested to the letter. It had been the first private moment that meant something to her and him. She cherished it because they didn't have any others until they came here.

"Damn right," Daryl grumbled. "Good name."

_But if you both like it it's a good name._

"Thank you, Carl," she drawled.

"Damn kid," Daryl muttered.

_Can The Castle bring burgers again? They were really good. Cheese, too? Tell Rand I'll come and help clean up or something. Any of us would. I know a lot of people here are signing up to do patrol. I can't until I'm eighteen, my dad said. And Tony and Ash._

_Gotta go. Sasha's here and they're heading back._

_See you later._

_Love, Carl_

She took the letter from Daryl's hand and dropped it on the coffee table. "We should spend some time with him at the next social."

"We should. I missed that kid."

"Me, too."

The letter was a mixed bag for her. She had missed Carl and Judith, but she had so much more now. Frankly she was done talking or thinking about it. She looked at Daryl and just grinned before straddling his lap. He looked up at her questioningly as he put his hands on her ass.

"I'm done, Daryl. We can't change what happened. We have so much here so we're done," she decided.

"Alright."

"Good." She leaned down and kissed him. "Wanna make out?"

"What?"

"Do you want to make out?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Never done it before."

"Let's do something new."

* * *

Daryl knew he was walkin' around with a goofy ass smile in his face, but he didn't care. Him and 'Chonne made out like teenagers on their sofa before headin' to bed, where they made love for what seemed like a long time. He loved that woman. If he lost her?

He held Jasper's hand and listened as his son babbled at him. He wasn't gonna think about it. He wasn't happy with the spa patrol she was goin' on but Rand, Helen and Janet were goin'. All the women here had done at least one, if not more except for 'Chonne and Rand. He wasn't worried about 'Chonne. She could take care of herself. Rand could take care of herself. He knew shit could happen but with Rand goin', well he put his money on 'Chonne and her. It was only gonna be two weeks and Jasper was old enough for her to be gone that long.

The matinee today was 'Dumbo' accordin' to the sign Janet had made. Jasper took one look and started pointing to it. Matinees had been kinda a joke when they first started. Another 'old world ritual' after 'women's lunches' and 'football' days in the solar. After the baby shower Janet had started more 'community' things, like seein' who could play an instrument or who had done drama class in school. She'd been dubbed the 'cruise director' for the Castle. They had jazz nights, blues nights, plays, horse shoe competitions, bingo nights, board game nights. Her latest idea was a carnival. Glen had been in construction before all this, so his class projects had been makin' rides for the little kids. He'd seen some of the drawings and was pretty amazed they had rides like that during medieval times.

'Chonne slipped in from teachin' her class as the movie was endin'. Jasper just grinned and pointed to the big ass TV sayin' 'Do'. She kissed his cheek and he turned back to finish watching the movie. After dinner they let him and Andy play with some blocks in their room with Waya, who was down on the floor with 'em, and Seth, who was sitting in one of the chairs 'Chonne had had him move in.

"It's nice to see this," she chuckled.

"It is," Seth agreed and whipped out a camera and took a picture.

"I want one a them," Daryl told him.

"Of course."

He sat back on the sofa, arm around Michonne, and was still a little shocked that this was his life now. Half the shit, more than half the shit they did here, he'd never done before. Some he did out of boredom, like the bingo nights. Some he did 'cause 'Chonne wanted to, like the plays and blues nights. He thought the plays were stupid, but Michonne liked 'em. He liked blues nights. Sometimes, he wasn't exactly happy at how it was outside the Castle, but he liked his life now. He had somethin' to wake up for. 'Chonne, Jasper, the Four, the kids, the Castle.

"Gotta go outside tomorrow. 'End of the Semester' bullshit," he said as he rolled his eyes. Martin, who had been an electrician before, had signed up with a few more residents for trackin' lessons. He started it, now all of, he sighed and couldn't believe this shit, the 'students' were callin' it that. Asshole.

Seth laughed. "What's wrong, professor? Just flunk them all and be done with it."

"Professor Dixon, are there some young hotties trying to influence you for their grade?" Waya grinned up at him.

"There better not be," 'Chonne snorted. "He's my professor."

"Shut up, man," Daryl scoffed. "I'm only interested in one young hottie."

It took him a while, after he was asked to teach the damn classes, to get used to teachin' people shit he'd had to learn to stay alive. One thing he could say was anyone that signed up for his classes was willin' to learn and listen to what he had to say. It was kinda nice.

* * *

Maggie and Sasha were sitting outside on some chairs on the porch enjoying the evening. She'd been back for a couple of weeks and the 'hoedown' invitations had been handed out when the patrol was here. Sasha didn't know Laura and Nichole had the damn things. After she'd been mobbed by more of the women, she didn't know why they didn't ask Ash, maybe they had, but she never did or never saw it, it was nice to sit with Maggie and just be.

"This is nice," Maggie commented quietly.

"It'll be ending soon. You can tell."

"Yeah, it's getting cold out. Hopefully, we'll get more snow again. The kids like it."

"Hm. It wasn't bad, I guess."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "So how was it, really?"

"It was okay. The patrol seemed to talk to each other more, I guess. I wasn't on the first ones. I'm going to do another one," she informed Maggie.

"I figured. Me and Glenn are fine right here," Maggie grinned.

"I figured."

"Are you goin' to the 'hoedown'?

"I don't think so."

"Because of Michonne?"

Sasha shrugged. "Maybe. A little." She stared out into the woods. "I was mad, but I understand, I guess. We hadn't seen them in two years. I never gave them another thought. Because I was crazy."

"You were not," Maggie protested.

"Crazy, maybe. Angry for sure. All the damn time, Maggie. It's just," she sighed. "I thought we were friends at the prison."

"Me, too."

"And maybe we were. As much as someone can be your friend now."

"Don't you think we're friends?" Maggie asked in shock.

"Yeah we are. We've been through so much. Michonne and Daryl were with us for part of it, but the worst was after we lost the prison. I was mad at you when you and Glenn left, even though I understood. Kind of. I didn't have anyone else to talk to aside from Rosita and Tara. Those people in Alexandria? They didn't know. Even when the Saviors came around they didn't understand. Until Olivia was killed. Too little too late then."

Maggie nodded. "I didn't know her that well, but it still was hard hearin' about it."

"Yeah. We'll do watch." She paused. "I did shoot at him."

"Rick."

"It doesn't matter to Michonne. In fact, I'm sure it makes her more pissed off at him. I'm sorry I did it. Now. Then? It didn't matter except he left us. I was…kind of pissed off at him for running after her."

"He did come back," Maggie reminded her.

"He did. Maybe if we would have listened to him, he tried to tell Rick, we wouldn't have gone through all that bullshit. Rick didn't, we didn't and we did. We're here now. We have a good place, a good group. I don't mind staying here. I can always go to the next one."

Maggie smiled. "I hope so. It. Well, I didn't enjoy myself last time. I will this time. Seein' other people, communities. It was nice."

Sasha grinned at her. "I was thinking if the Saviors hadn't been around you would have tried to do something like this."

She shrugged. "Maybe. We were already trading, but I never would have thought to go _find_ other communities. Or start a patrol."

"We should have looked around. Maybe we would have found those assholes," Sasha hissed.

"Maybe. We didn't. We're fine here."

Sasha took her hand and squeezed it. "We're fine here."

"Besides, since this thing started we've been tryin' to do more. Be better."

"Girl, you ain't lyin'," she laughed. "Canning. Drying food."

"More rules. I kinda like the one about pregnancy," Maggie confided.

"I bet. At six months you can't do watch and neither can Glenn."

"Yeah. Ash said maternity benefits before weren't that great at some places. Paternity benefits didn't exist at all," she said.

Sasha and her spent the time before dinner on the porch just enjoying the late summer day. It'd gotten easy to do it. Everything was done, all the plans had been set, and there was nothing else to do. Jesus sat with them for a little while. They didn't talk aside from comments here or there. There wasn't much to talk about. Hannah was right. They weren't very exciting, but Maggie didn't mind. It was nice. She wondered, if the Saviors and the Wolves and the herd had never shown up, if they would have done this at Alexandria or Hilltop. She'd like to think they would have. She'd never know now.

Maybe she should stop thinkin' about Alexandria and Hilltop. Michonne and Daryl obviously did.

* * *

Rick looked at Glenn in confusion as they walked the fences.

"What?"

Glenn snorted. "I think Maggie wants to go apprentice at The Castle."

"Why?"

He laughed a little. "Jesus made a comment about how smart this woman is. Starting a patrol. Trying to the communities more involved with each other. Drying food. Canning. The brick oven. She's so sure Rand did all of that."

It was his turn to laugh. "Probably. Daria from Blue Mountain had good thangs to say about The Castle. They traded smoked meat for plans for looms."

"Looms?"

"Knitting thangs."

"Shit." Glenn hunched his shoulders. "You think they have those?"

He shrugged. "Didn't Jesus say it was a theme park? Or was going to be a theme park? In a castle? Probably like Colonial Williamsburg or somethang. Just for medieval stuff."

"Is Blue Mountain growing cotton?"

"Don't know, but there's still yarn around. Why knit by hand if a machine could do it?"

"Should we do it?" Glenn looked at him in puzzlement.

"I told Tony and Ash. I guess they're gonna ask at the next social."

"Maybe we should do it on our own. What would we trade?"

"I don't know, Glenn. I'm sure Ash has some ideas. That social?"

He smiled. "I know. Maggie, hell everyone, seems to be energized. In spite of, uh, dinner with Daryl and Michonne."

"Yeah, in spite of the dinner," he agreed sadly.

He'd had a good time. Carl got to meet kids his own age, or close to it. He met other residents of the different communities. It was nice to see. He felt hopeful for the future.

"Do you ever think about Alexandria?" Glenn asked after a few minutes.

He shook his head. "No. I mostly stopped when we left West Springfield. I came to terms with what I'd done and what happened. I couldn't change anythang. I was glad." At Glenn's shocked look he stopped and turned to face him. "I'm not glad those people died, Glenn, I'm glad I didn't have Alexandria on my back anymore. I was responsible for a lot of thangs, bad thangs, that happened. I got my daughter killed and it's somethang I'll never forgive myself for."

"It was the Wolves," Glenn reminded him.

"Yeah, it was Wolves, but I left her with a housewife that wouldn't have made it out there. I can't do anythang about the past. The future? That I can do somethang about. I have Carl and we're living in a good place. He can grow up. I hope he gets married and has kids. I'd like to be a grandpa. Part of that, for me, was letting go. I won't do 'what if's or 'should have's or 'if only's."

"Dwelling on the past?" Glenn smiled a little.

"Dwelling on the past, right." He smiled back. "Me and Carl like it here."

"You're not going back to bury Carol, are you?"

"No. I'm not. Abraham put her down. It's enough."

Glenn nodded in understanding. "Grandpa, huh?" he joked.

"Yeah," he chuckled.

"Did you have the sex talk with Carl?"

He laughed. "Shut up. Not for years down the road." They started walking the fences again.

"How do you feel about being an uncle?" Glenn wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

* * *

"We should stop talking about Alexandria and the Saviors," Sasha announced as she slid into bed with Abraham.

He rolled to his side and put his arm under his head. "I did. Hell, I'd rather talk about the shit on my boots I get from shoveling the barn."

"Really?"

"Sash, I was done with that place at Deanna's party. I only stayed because it wasn't smart to be by yourself. Me and Rosita talked about leaving."

"I know. You said."

"When we got here I did my soul searching," he stared off. "Tried to remember my wife. My kids. Thought about Rosita a bit. Eugene." He put his attention back on her. "I want to kill Simon and Negan." He shrugged. "Other than that there's nothing there for me. What I want is here. You. This place. Hell, I even got some friends. I haven't thought of that place in…seven months, twenty days."

"Is it just me?" she squawked.

"Must be. Maggie?"

Sasha thought about her conversations with Maggie. "I bring it up."

"It's just you."

She sighed. "I need to leave that place."

"Yeah you do."

* * *

**There was a comment on a previous story that Daryl and someone named Connie seemed to be a better couple. It was left as a guest. Guest - if you read this know I stopped watching TWD after season five. I'm not sure who Connie is, but if you think they make a good couple I'm sure they make a good couple. With the exception of those mentioned in earlier stories I don't know of any other characters. Those I mentioned I had to go looking for.**


	2. Chapter 2

Rand paid attention, subtly, to her advisors. After Daryl's bombshell a few weeks ago, she felt it was needed. This Rick guy kicking Daryl out was the best thing that had happened to her since she found out what the hell was going on. She didn't know and didn't want to know why Michonne left, but whatever it was it was the best thing that had ever happened to her since she found out what the hell was going on. She'd like to shake his hand, actually. She might give him a cow as a thank you.

They didn't seem too bothered by what had happened to them at this Alexandria place. Rand trusted them to tell her if they wanted her to move them. She would. Her advisors comfort over the Crazy Ass' residents? No contest.

Snickering to herself she looked down at Andy as she pushed the modified stroller down to the farms. Shit. She was a mom. Sometimes it hit her in the face. Hard. She loved her little girl and wished she could grow up in the old world. Of course she wouldn't have been born, but it was the thought. It was a good thing minivans were passé.

When they made it down to the farm Rand took Andy out of the stroller and put her on her hip as she looked over the fruits and vegetables that were growing. The chill was in the air and they were trying to get the last drop before they rolled up the fields for the winter. Ugh. Winter. She'd always hated it. Considering her profession before it was kind of a joke. She looked at Andy again, put her down and sat in the dirt watching her daughter play.

* * *

Tony, Ash and Andrew watched as Ford and Lisa headed to the Training Grounds to pick up their person for patrol. It was the first one neither of them had gone on, but they'd only done two. Once the car was out of sight they went back to the house and into the living room. Tony wasn't surprised when Andrew came in a few minutes later and headed for the kitchen. They could hear the sound of something being poured before the poor guy joined them, glass in his hand.

"Whiskey," Andrew volunteered before he sipped. "It's the first time since." He paused. "She's the only one left. My wife and brother-in-law. They didn't make it."

Ash hummed a sympathetic noise.

* * *

Michonne and Daryl were in the office with Rand, Jake, Dominic, Tammy and Jonathan Wilmer as they gave their report. They'd come in a while ago, ate, showered and spent a few minutes with the people they were close to. Janet and Bradford were very reluctant to let Jake go when she called them into the office.

"It's good to see you all back in one piece," Rand greeted. "Just a thumbnail right now. If you think of something after, find me."

"With the time you gave us, Rand, we didn't find much. Yeah, we found some towns cleaned out of some things, and we stayed away from the base, but nothing that looked like someone was setting up shop," Jake started.

"Gas, of course, was gone from some cars, not all. Food. We couldn't tell with clothes or blankets. The hardware stores we found could have had shit missing, but we couldn't tell if it was before or after," Dominic added.

"We need more time, Rand," Jonathan seemed to lecture. "The homing pigeons may have been a…mistake," he admitted as he hunched his shoulders.

"They were." Tammy shot him an ugly look.

Michonne was ambivalent about Tammy Jenkins. After months of mooning over Daryl she'd stepped up, she didn't know who threatened her, but she did. She'd done a few patrols. She looked between Dominic and Tammy. Ah. A romance. They sat close to each other and did watch together sometimes. Interesting.

"Okay," Rand drawled as she smirked in Jonathan Wilmer's direction. "Why?"

"They made noise, drawing attention to us. We had to let them go," Jake ground out.

"They didn't come back here," she said.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Coulda told ya it was a damn dumb idea. I did tell ya it was a damn dumb idea."

"It wasn't a dumb idea, really," Rand interrupted. "Just not feasible in current conditions."

Jonathan Wilmer seemed to sag a little and Michonne hoped he finally learned his lesson. He did know a lot of stuff but not more than Rand. When she thought things out.

"We didn't see any traps or farm animals," Tammy continued. "The houses looked in bad shape. I mean, we stayed in a few and they looked like my apartment when we were told to evacuate. The basics were gone and that's it."

"Hm." Rand drummed her fingers on the top of the desk. "Walkers?"

"After we let the pigeons go." Jake glared at Jonathan Wilmer before looking at Rand, "they weren't bad. Decomposing, of course. We saw some that had grown into their car seats."

"Scared the shit out me," Dominic shuddered.

"They were gross," Tammy seconded.

"Gas? Is it worth it to go get the gas?" she asked the group.

"I don't think so, Rand. It's been sitting for years. It wouldn't be any good," Jonathan spoke up. "The shelf stable food wouldn't be worth it, either. Everything else we saw was like the towns between here and Charlottesville. Decaying. The Castle meets all of our needs."

"Hm," she muttered. The look on Rand's face told Michonne this wasn't finished. It was a good idea, really, to expand the patrol and, hopefully, find more communities.

"Alright. Thanks for doing this. I appreciate it. You're off patrol for a while. The next social is still on. I know you didn't go last time. You can go this time. It was…interesting."

Jake smiled. "My mom had a good time. She really liked mingling with the other places."

"Whoo. All we need is music," Tammy grinned.

"Take some guitars or something," Michonne suggested.

"That's a good idea," Dominic agreed.

More time was spent with them going over the state of the roads they'd used, if the water sources on the map were dried up or useful and the animals they'd hunted for food. When Dominic yawned Rand let them go and stared at the door after they left before she looked at her and Daryl.

"I don't think I thought that out well."

Daryl laughed a little. "You always gonna say that, Rand?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I'm ambivalent this time. I thought it was well planned out."

"Was, except it was a dumbass idea about the pigeons." He frowned.

"I agreed with you," she nodded her head.

"It was well thought out, Rand," 'Chonne countered. "We're not going to be so lucky like we have been. Not that it was luck finding those people, it was work." She paused. "The mountains are a good idea. It snows so there's water. The walkers aren't coordinated."

"It's what I thought."

"They are a good idea. How many of them people at the ice breaker thought of it? Not many, I bet. Not like this area's easy to get in and out of, Rand. Gotta drive to reach anywhere," Daryl pointed out. "Maybe we should stay on the Trail."

"Maybe."

"We shouldn't try east. Of the mountains," 'Chonne suggested.

"Those Savior people?" Rand raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. If they did burn those communities…" Michonne trailed off.

"Fuckers," he swore.

"Big dicks, I agree. That was pointless," Rand frowned. "Hm. Alright. We'll stick to the Trail."

Daryl did think it was good they was tryin' to find other places. It worked out so far for the Castle. All the places they found grew food and had a watch. Couldn't ask for more. They didn't stay long at the ice breaker, so he couldn't tell what kinda people they had. They'd have to do the next one.

* * *

Michonne was with Rand in the pasture waiting on the Training Grounds, Blue Mountain, the Fort and the Crazy Ass Bunker residents for the patrol. Daryl was going on this one and she was nervous. After the Tennessee scouts had returned she and Daryl spent most of their free time with Jasper. Not that they didn't already, but this was the first patrol Daryl was doing. The parents couldn't do patrol until their child reached six months, then they had a choice to defer until the child was a year old. She liked that rule. Everyone liked it.

She knew Adrian was going to ease her mind. Daryl could take care of himself, but back up was better and Adrian didn't mind going again so soon.

"Nervous?" Rand asked.

She nodded. "A little. I know Daryl can take care of himself, but this will be the first patrol he's ever done."

"True. Seth, Waya and Adrian never did full patrols until recently. Sometimes I hated that rule."

"I didn't. It was, is, a good rule, Rand. Before? Paternity benefits were unheard of and maternity benefits weren't much better."

"I get that. I feel that I should have been out there anyway."

"You were pregnant and gave birth and it's a rule."

"I run this place. I would have gone out sooner, but we had enough people."

"Bullshit. You could have gone, so don't feed me," Michonne scoffed. "These people, our residents, know you're capable. Besides, I think Helen threatened them to give you some slack."

Rand laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised."

Michonne put her hand on Rand's arm. "She's good a friend."

"I know. You all are. Thank you."

"Thank you," she smiled at her friend.

* * *

"Come on, Japer, give your pa a kiss," Adrian crooned to the little boy in his arms as Daryl took his crossbow off the mantle and slung the strap across his chest. "How are you doing?" the man asked him.

Daryl didn't want to admit he didn't wanna go. It would be the first time he'd be away from 'Chonne and his son since he was born. Goin' out for classes didn't count. He'd be gone for two weeks on patrol.

"I didn't want to go, either, the first time," Adrian commented.

"Feel like I'm goin' off to war or some shit," he grumbled.

"You are. Somewhat. We'll be fine. And you'll get to meet Lenny," Adrian smiled evilly.

"He sounds weird as fuck, Adrian."

"He is weird as fuck, Daryl," he laughed. "This is how he wants to live. As long as he doesn't try and kill us, we get along."

"Whatever, man. Let's get goin'."

Daryl took his son from Adrian and put him on his hip. Jasper didn't understand what was goin' on, just babblin' away as they left the keep, over the drawbridge and down to the pasture. He saw 'Chonne and Rand just waitin'. Everyone else goin' on patrol was already down there. He'd never done this part before. He sure as hell hoped Rand didn't give no speeches or shit. When he reached Michonne Jasper held out his arms and she took him. He patted himself down making sure his gun and knives were close then picked up the backpack 'Chonne had made up for him. He wanted to leave it, but he knew she'd upset. He didn't need no damn backpack.

He rolled his eyes when he saw Abraham and was never as happy until now that he knew another language.

"See you in two weeks," Rand said before he kissed Michonne on the lips, his son on his cheek and headed out the gate with Adrian at his side. The rest fell in behind them and they headed for the first house.

* * *

Abraham grunted when saw Daryl joining the patrol. The man kissed Michonne and the kid before him and the English guy headed out of the gate. She nodded to him as he walked by and he did the same.

He was better prepared this time out. Tony and Ash wanted at least another person familiar with the patrol to go with the newbies until all their people were trained that wanted to do it. Hell, he thought they should all do it, but it was Tony and Ash's place. He liked everyone had to do runs, but patrol was different.

"I hope you have your dancing shoes on, Lisa," he grinned.

"I can handle it," she retorted.

Ignoring the muttering she sent his way he sized up the others on patrol. The Castle had Glen, an older white guy, Leslie, an older white lady that reminded him of Carol with her short gray hair, Manny, a young Hispanic guy and Janette, a young white lady. The Fort had sent Bonnie, a middle aged black lady. He and Lisa rode with Arthur from the Training Grounds. He was a middle aged white man and Blue Mountain sent Mario, a young Hispanic male. Since they were all here they knew the score. He wondered how many would be able to keep up. Hell, he hoped he'd be able to keep up.

When he got back the first time he started hitting the gym a little more. He kept an eye on Lisa and Bonnie when they fell to the back of the line. No way was he even going to worry about Glen and Leslie. It was a good thing because they were in better shape than he was. They were hauling ass like Adrian and Daryl. Mario and Arthur stayed more in the middle of the pack with Manny. Janette seemed to stay with him, Bonnie and Lisa. He nodded at her and she gave him a 'what are you going to do' look and kept everyone in sight.

When they stopped the first night things were a little looser than the first time he'd done this. Sash told him the people on patrol were a little friendlier now. Adrian and Daryl gave out the watch shift when they arrived at the first house. Abraham wasn't going out of his way for the man and Daryl didn't look like he wanted anything to do with him, aside from that. Fine by him.

He got why Daryl was pissed but the person he needed to be pissed with was Rick. He understood where Rick was coming from. Someone who'd been with him for a while chasing after another person from the group that left on her own. Some fucked up shit there. They'd all been fucked up when they got a load of Alexandria. It was in the past. The man needed to grow the fuck up. Michonne, too.

The rest of the patrol was smooth. Abraham did see Adrian and Daryl take off outside of Blue Mountain and show up on the way to the Training Grounds. He tried to remember if it happened on the first patrol.

* * *

Sasha and Rick were looking over the maps that Linda had someone drop off of Mount Jackson. Glenn and Tony were making plans for a shopping trip with the Training Grounds and they were going to have a big strategy meeting after the next social.

"We're not going," she told Rick after everyone else left and they headed outside.

"To the social?" Rick asked her.

"Yes. We're staying here for watch."

"Okay."

She paused as they neared the barn. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be? If you and Abraham want to stay you should stay."

"I thought you'd be mad."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I though you would be. Mad."

He smiled at her. "I'm not."

"Good." She nodded. "Good."

"Let's muck this barn. It won't shovel itself."

She laughed. "Damn it."

"I miss the pigs," he sighed.

They worked quietly, mostly griping about shoveling horseshit.

When she was in the shower later she was smiling. She'd left that place.


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl looked at Adrian as they stood on the road leading to Lenny's place. It wasn't far from Blue Mountain he knew, but the traps made him wait to follow Adrian's lead. He'd made, with Adrian and Seth, the traps in the woods around the Castle, but not the shit Rand, Seth, Waya and Adrian told him about the first time they came back from here.

"Should just look in the mailbox, Adrian. Why we gotta go see this nut?" Daryl asked.

Adrian smiled as he looked at the ground. "The personal touch never hurts, Daryl."

"Fuck that. Personal touch, my ass. I know Rand wants this guy to 'mingle' with us more, but fuck. He don't want to."

"I agree, but we would like to get inside."

"'Cause you don't think no one else is in there."

"And the CCTV."

Daryl learned to spot the cameras after Adrian pointed out a few. Now he knew what to look for when they got to the Crazy Ass Bunker. "Maybe we should go back to your base and take them," he suggested.

"Too much work. We'd have to get into the guardhouse, take the controls, the cameras, find more wire, try and set it up and we'd have to dedicate some of the electricity just for that. It's easier to have a watch."

"We gonna take this after he's dead?"

"Of course. Easier for us."

It made sense. If Lenny already had this shit set up why not take it after he died? Use his solar panels, his cameras, his wire and it was closer. He didn't get a look at the guardroom on Adrian's base but him and Seth said they had a whole wall of monitors. Daryl hoped this guy just had a trailer full of them. They could park it somewhere instead of trying to make a room for the crap.

Daryl'd seen some awful shit since this started, but some of the walkers stuck in the traps almost made him throw up. Cut in half, pulled apart, one even looked like it had been melted. He saw half the face was gone. No bone, no skin, no teeth. He raised his eyebrows when they reached the walls and Adrian waved at a stuffed owl sitting in a tree. Lenny opened the gate right away.

"Who's that?" the dark haired guy shouted and pointed at him.

"He's one of Rand's advisors, Lenny. His name's Daryl," Adrian introduced.

The guy looked clean with his long black hair. He was as tall as Adrian but a little chubby. He had two guns on his hips in holsters and a badge on his chest, wearing cowboy boots like some damn western. That reminded him of Rick some.

"It's Wyatt Earp. Was he in the army, too?"

Daryl rolled his eyes.

Adrian laughed a little. "No, Daryl wasn't in the army."

"A cop?"

"No, I wasn't no damn cop," he snorted. Fuckin' ridiculous.

"Then what was he?" the man pressed.

"A criminal," he sneered.

"How is the lovely Rand?" Lenny ignored him and concentrated on Adrian.

"Fine as ever. She'll be around next month."

"Hm. Still trying to get me to trade?"

"We've moved on from trading, Sheriff. We have sock hops now. Once a month. You and yours are welcome to join."

"Will I have to wear a poodle skirt?" he asked.

"If you like. It's quite informal," Adrian replied.

"Bring a dish," Daryl told the crazy fuck.

"Any news?" Adrian queried.

"A group of people tried to come here. No creepies."

"Any survivors?"

"They had a bounty on their heads. It's mine."

"Of course, Sheriff Earp. Men or women?"

"Both. I'll take the traps down along the road next month," Lenny stated and went back inside.

"Crazy as fuck," Daryl rolled his eyes.

"Or crazy like a fox," Adrian countered as they walked away. Daryl knew where the traps were now, the fucker was good, better than him so it was easier getting back to their safe house with Adrian takin' first shift for watch.

Since him and 'Chonne decided to start patrol they'd been put back on night watch. It'd been hard getting out of the habit, not hard getting back into it. It had been nice not doin' watch at night. Him spendin' time with Michonne and Jasper at night, like a real family.

He got up to some good smellin' stew and decided he liked this safe house the best. It had a nice bed, runnin' water and they cooked in the fire pit in the kitchen. Maybe visiting Lenny wasn't so bad. He could see why everyone that did patrol wanted to go see this guy, in spite of the weird ass notes the crazy fuck left.

He got looks from Abraham when he and Adrian showed up a couple of days after they left Blue Mountain again. Daryl ignored him. He didn't know what the man's problem was but he didn't really talk to anyone on patrol but Adrian. He didn't know Abraham that well anyway. Yeah, they were in the same group from Terminus to Alexandria, but they didn't talk a lot, didn't interact a lot, then he left, came back and was kicked out. He didn't see Abraham at all after he followed 'Chonne.

It didn't matter. He was at the Crazy Ass Bunker, not the Castle.

* * *

Two weeks later Michonne was with Rand as they waited for the patrol to get back. Rand had teased the shit out of her about her 'boy' coming home from school. "Shut up."

"It's what you get for teasing me. I've been saving up," the woman grinned.

"You're an ass."

"I know," she retorted gleefully.

As soon as she saw Daryl come through the gate she fast walked over to him. He pulled her in his arms and kissed her like he hadn't seen her in years. "Missed you," he whispered.

"I got Jenny to babysit," she whispered back.

"Alright," he smiled. "We'll give the report then you can meet me in the shower."

"I can't wait."

She sat through the patrol report paying particular attention to Lenny, the fact he said the traps would be down and the group of people that he either killed outright or they were killed in his traps. When Rand first suggested traps she thought the woman was paranoid. After the Four came back from the Blue Mountain doctor trip she didn't think Rand was as paranoid as this guy. Seth and Adrian told them about the traps. If they hadn't been there Rand and Waya probably wouldn't be here.

Michonne knew Rand was seriously thinking of some of his traps and maybe installing them in their woods. Waya, so far, had been able to talk her out of it. Daryl told her he probably couldn't do half the shit the man set up. Adrian and Seth told her it wasn't worth it as they had enough weapons and people to take care of any dicks that showed up. She told Rand they'd probably kill themselves putting them in before any dicks could make it through the traps they had now.

"Huh. Okay, a group or part of a group down. Go Lenny." Rand rolled her eyes. "You think he'll take the traps down?" she asked Daryl and Adrian.

"I do, yes," Adrian replied reluctantly.

"'Chonne ain't goin' down that road, Rand. You wanna? That's up to you and the Stooges. I think it's a bad idea. It's what the mailbox is for," Daryl answered.

"I'm not going down that road, Rand. I'll go with you, but I'm not going down that road," she warned.

"Don't want you goin' with her for Lenny, 'Chonne, I ain't gonna lie. I know you'll go anyway."

Michonne raised her eyebrows at him. Daryl knew she could take care of herself. This was the first time he'd ever tried to insinuate she couldn't.

"I can take care of myself, Daryl," she countered.

"I know you can. This guy? We knew he was weird when they came back and told us he had on a toga when they first met. We seen the notes the crazy fuck left. The pictures. We got a son."

"You went," she pointed out.

"I was with Adrian. I ain't sayin' Rand ain't good."

"Thank you," Rand interjected.

"Shut up, Rand," Daryl raised his voice. "This ain't a joke. This is my wife. The mother of my kid. This is serious shit. Hell, if I thought you'd fuckin' listen to Seth and Adrian I'd have them tell you you couldn't go either. You can kick ass all day long but that don't mean you know everythin' they do. You don't."

"I side with Daryl on this, Rand," Adrian endorsed. "You are good at taking care of yourself. This guy is too weird."

"I know you think things out. Most of the time. You need to think this out, Rand," Daryl said. "You run this place. We got a good place here. Good people. You don't need to prove nothin' to us."

Michonne watched as Rand narrowed her eyes at Daryl and Adrian. After a few minutes she lost some of the stiffness in her posture and sat back in her chair. "Fine. We'll check the mailbox."

Adrian walked to her and kissed her head. "I know that was hard, love. You're very capable. You don't have to prove anything to us."

"'Chonne, you're capable, like Rand. Hell, I'd hate to be on your or her bad side, but this guy is weird. I don't trust it."

* * *

Daryl knew 'Chonne wouldn't be happy he didn't want her to go with Rand to see Lenny but he didn't care. He was surprised when the shower door opened and she stepped inside. She pushed him up against the wall.

He'd fuckin' missed her was his last thought before she dropped to her knees. Before he was going to come he pulled her to her feet, pushed her face first toward the wall, covered her hands with his own and entered her from behind. He didn't know, or care, how long they played 'shower games', but when they were finished he stepped out and grabbed a towel. Daryl held it up and wrapped her in it, putting his head on hers. "I missed you, 'Chonne."

"I missed you, too, Daryl," she murmured before she kissed him again, then moved away to dry off. He did the same, wrapping the towel around his waist. He saw food sittin' out on the coffee table and headed for the love seat. She sat beside him and stretched her legs across his lap while he scarfed down the few sandwiches and vegetables on the tray.

"Hungry?" she teased.

"Hell yeah, woman. You wore me out," he said and licked his fingers. She scrunched her nose and put the cloth napkin on his knee. After he was done eating he downed the water and leaned back with a sigh. "Gettin' too old for this shit."

"How was it?"

He shrugged. "It was okay. Those other people were laggin'. Manny and Janette stayed with 'em."

"Abraham?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't talk to him much. Got nothin' to say to the man. Told him his and Lisa's watch schedule. She helped out cookin' some. He hunted a couple of times. Mostly stayed with Lisa. She's from the Crazy Ass Bunker, too," he elaborated.

"Do you think Rand and I can do this?" she asked.

"Yeah. Might have to slow down. We walk fast."

"Places to be, people to see," she laughed out.

"Right," he drawled.

"Wife?"

He shrugged again. "I know we can't get married. Hell, I never even asked if you wanted to. You and Mike weren't married. It's how I think of you. My wife."

'Chonne moved fast and straddled him. He put his hands on her face and gently pulled her down for another kiss. "Love you."

Later, he heard knockin' on the door and looked out the window near his side of the bed. "Shit," he muttered when he saw it was dark out. He saw Michonne get out of bed and put on shorts and a shirt then opened the door to Jenny.

"He missed his daddy," she told them before handing Jasper over and closing the door.

"Adoda!" he yelled.

Michonne brought him over and put him on his chest. Jasper squealed when Daryl blew raspberries on his belly. She threw his boxers to him, hitting and making Jasper laugh.

"Alright, little man. Hold on a minute. Your daddy's gotta get dressed," he told their frowning son.

* * *

Michonne took Jasper from the bed and went over to the loveseat to wait for him. Her son was loudly asking for his Adoda. He'd been cranky almost the entire time Daryl had been gone. She hadn't been cranky but she did miss him. They'd been together since they got here, never being apart for more than a day. She prided herself on being a strong woman. She was a strong woman, but she had felt like a part of her was missing when he was on patrol.

She never felt like that about Mike and she didn't think she would have, even if he hadn't been an asshole and killed her son.

When he was dressed he took Jasper from her arms and whirled him around making him laugh before he sat next to her. Jasper sat on his lap and baby talked to him. Daryl nodded along and talked back all the while running his hand down their son's back. She put her head on his shoulder and watched her family.

* * *

"How was it?" Sasha asked him later that night. They were in their room, sitting at their new table. She'd asked Maggie, Glenn and Rick to go with her to Willow Grove to find a little table like the one Maggie had in her room. It had taken the better part of two days before she found the set she liked in one of the houses. It was a small wooden bistro set that Maggie had gushed over.

Abraham and Lisa spent the better part of dinner going over patrol. Lisa said she'd do it again, 'but damn those people moved fast and she needed to hit the gym more'. Everyone that had done patrol laughed at her because she was not lying. When she'd heard Daryl had gone her, Maggie, Glenn and Rick had shared looks. Maggie, Glenn and Rick had looked sad after Abraham told them privately he hadn't talked to him much. She didn't think Abraham cared.

"Really? How was it?" she asked again.

He pushed his glass of scotch from one hand to the other. "Like I said, the man gave us our watch schedules. End of story. Him and Adrian disappeared around Blue Mountain, showed up again a few days later."

"They went to visit another community. I guess Jesus asked Tony. They don't want to trade and will only deal with The Castle. Intelligence sharing."

"Why didn't he say anything?" Abraham frowned.

She shrugged. "He didn't think it was important. I guess Rand was very upfront about the guy at their first meeting."

"Huh," he grunted. "He didn't really talk to anyone but Adrian. Why are we gossiping? We need to be in bed."

Sasha laughed. "You goof."

"I missed you, Sash." He finished his drink and stood. "Let's go to bed."

She stood up, too. "I thought you'd," she ended on a squeal as he picked her up bridal style and dropped her on top of the covers.

"Take off your clothes."

She laughed and did as she was told.

* * *

After listening to everyone that had done patrol say those Castle people moved fast made Rick happy he decided to not do patrol. He hoped Carl was paying close attention. Funny, he didn't want to do patrol when he'd been a sheriff's deputy. Of course, his patrol was in a car and not the entire area. It was an hour plus drive to Bridgewater. He knew all the other communities were south of The Crazy Ass Bunker with The Training Grounds being the closest. The Fort and Blue Mountain were really south of them. He liked it right here, thank you very much.

Carl was telling him again about the letter he'd gotten from Donny at Blue Mountain and it made him smile. He was pleasantly surprised to get a letter from Daria. She'd written Donny had a good time with his son and he was so nice and she hoped they could get together at the next social.

It was good for Carl to spend time with kids near his age, from what he could tell. He wasn't happy Rand's daughter taught his son to throw knives. He was going to ask the woman to tell her daughter to stop. This world was bad enough, his son didn't need to learn anymore. Rick was almost tempted to tell Daria to have Donny stop but this was the first boy close to Carl's age that'd he seen since Alexandria. He frowned. Not a good experience there either. Maybe he should just let it be. Carl seemed to get along well with this Donny kid and his guardian was a nice lady.

"Rick?" Aaron asked.

"Huh? Sorry, Aaron. Did I miss somethang?"

He smiled. "No, but you had a look on your face."

"Just thinking about the social."

"Not patrol?" Aaron laughed when he grimaced.

"No. Those people move too fast," Rick countered laughingly.

"So I hear. I'm doing one."

"Good for you, Aaron."

They passed the rest of the evening talking about the upcoming social.


	4. Chapter 4

AN/: Thank you for reading.

* * *

Glenn was happy when it almost time to leave for the social. The past two weeks hadn't been as bad as getting ready for the first one. The Crazy Ass Bunker seemed to have settled down. They'd been working hard with plans for the winter and how to do better, but now they wanted let loose and see the rest of the communities. Maybe Maggie should apprentice with The Castle. Or Ash. He figured if anyone would do it, it would be Ash since this started out as her and Tony's place. It was their place now.

He waved at Sasha and Abraham as they stood by the gate watching the cars leave.

* * *

"Are you goin' to talk to them?" Maggie asked Rick as they sat at a table in The Crazy Ass Bunker section. She'd spotted Daryl and Michonne as soon as they walked into the ballroom. She didn't see Adrian, Waya or Seth but she did see a few people with guitars, a fiddle and drums tuning their instruments. A look at everyone else there, all of the communities, saw smiles and the atmosphere was lighter, it seemed like. Damn, she wanted to talk to this woman.

"I don't know, Maggie," Rick replied. Like her, he was watching them talk to the other community leaders. Tony and Ash kind of hung back, but she saw Michonne purposefully head to Ash and hold out her hand. Maggie sighed in relief. Tony had told them there had been no hard feelings and they hadn't been treated any differently. Sasha hadn't said too much about it, just it was a lot looser than what Tony and Abraham had described on the first patrol.

* * *

Daryl wasn't actively lookin' for Rick, but saw him as soon as he walked in the door with Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Aaron and that other guy. Rand did, too. She looked them over before 'Chonne nudged her arm and Rand rolled her eyes and finished talkin' to Juan from Blue Mountain. After a few minutes she went to the center of the room like she did the first time.

"Hello everyone. Wow, another big turnout. We've provided some entertainment this time. Feel free to request, but our wonderful musicians may not know the song, please keep that in mind. If everyone's here, let's eat," she ended.

All the communities headed for the food tables and stood in lines. He went to look at everythin'. They weren't here long last time, he'd just made plates for him and 'Chonne from the Castle's food. He did take some of the pie, looked like blueberry, from Blue Mountain's table, but stuck to the Castle. He knew who made what. He didn't know them others that well. He took their plates and sat with 'Chonne, Brock from the Training Grounds and Jess from the Crazy Ass Bunker.

* * *

Carl sat with Donny from Blue Mountain, Jenny and Mark from The Castle and Debbie from the Training Grounds. He was glad they had burgers again. No cheese, but he didn't care. It was nice to be with kids close to his age. Debbie didn't know how to throw knives either. Jenny offered to teach her but she needed to ask her dad.

"Is the queen lady really your mom?" Debbie asked Jenny.

Mark laughed. Jenny hit him on the arm. "She is now."

Carl was impressed when Mark and Jenny started talking a different language from the first time he heard them talk to Michonne and Daryl. Donny got excited and asked if they could teach him. Carl raised his hand. "Me, too."

"Me, three," Debbie requested.

Carl really wanted to go to The Castle. Michonne said Rand needed to okay it before he could. Jenny knew how to throw knives. Mark said his dad told him he could learn when he was sixteen and he was only thirteen now. They spoke different languages and they had hamburgers. When he saw Rand leave the room he got out of his chair and followed her.

* * *

Glenn watched Rand, still trying to figure out if she was the same woman from Atlanta. Maggie was talking with Miguel and Mario from Blue Mountain when he saw Carl follow the woman. He saw Rick was chatting with Daria and people from The Training Grounds and The Fort. Michonne and Daryl were still with Jess and Ash, Brock from The Training Grounds and a few people from The Fort.

He decided to follow Carl and maybe see if it was the same woman. He followed them and waited with Carl outside the women's bathroom. When Rand came out Carl smiled.

"Hi, Dr. Rand." He waved his hand.

The woman paused and raised her eyebrows. "Huh," she said. "It's been a few years since I've heard that title. I used to be called Dr. Rand. Who are you?"

"Carl Grimes from the Atlanta camp," he replied.

After a few moments of gazing at Carl Dr. Rand's eyes zeroed in on him. "You, too?" she asked.

"Glenn Rhee," he answered.

"You were the little Asian kid running around." She looked at Carl. "Deputy Walsh was your dad."

"No," Carl raised his voice.

"Huh," she repeated and looked at Carl. "Okay. What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"Are you kidding?" Glenn gasped. "Why did you leave?"

Dr. Rand stared at both of them for a few minutes and he stared right back.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, but I will. I left because it was dangerous. I told Deputy Walsh we should all leave. We had a…disagreement and I left. Anything else?"

"Why didn't you come back?" Carl practically yelled the question. "You live in a castle. We could have been here instead of the prison or Alexandria."

"Huh," she said again and quirked an eyebrow. "Prison?"

"Carl." Glenn put his hand on Carl's shoulder.

"Where's Deputy Walsh?"

"Shane didn't make it," Glenn answered.

"Just me and Glenn," Carl added.

"The only ones I remember well are Dale Horvath and Deputy Walsh." She paused. "Have a good time," she uttered before leaving.

"That's it?" Glenn gaped in shock.

Dr. Rand stopped and turned to face them. "I don't have to explain myself to you. You're not my kid, my husband, my lover or my family, Glenn Rhee. You're a member of the Crazy Ass Bunker and the last time I checked I don't report to you, either. Have a good time," she retorted before trying to leave again.

"Can I come stay at The Castle to visit Michonne and Daryl?" Carl requested.

Dr. Rand turned again with a sigh. "If you like and if it's okay with your guardian, Tony and Ash."

"Are we going to tell my dad?" Carl looked at him after they watched her go back to the ballroom.

Glenn shrugged. "I think we should."

"Tony and Ash?"

He groaned. "We probably should."

"Do you think they're going to be mad?" Carl looked worried.

He shrugged a shoulder. "I doubt it."

They walked back toward the ballroom. "Woo, I can visit Daryl and Michonne," Carl whooped.

"You need to ask Rick first."

"He'll let me go," Carl stated with confidence.

* * *

Rick looked for Carl at Donny and Jennie's table. He didn't see him there so he got up and started wandering in between the people in the ballroom. There were a lot. It was hard to get used to. A few minutes later Carl and Glenn came through the doors. The look on Glenn's face told him they did know Dr. Rand. "Shit," he muttered. Carl looked happy for some reason and he went straight over to where Daryl and Michonne were standing with Dr. Rand. Carl waited a few minutes before he moved to stand beside Daryl. Both of them looked down at him with surprise. Dr. Rand must have said something because both of them looked at her in shock.

Carl was smiling and talking again. Michonne and Daryl looked around for him. That was his cue. He headed for them with Glenn at his side. Rick looked for Maggie and saw her talking to Pauline and Miguel. Aaron and Jesus were near the crowd surrounding the musicians that were playing quietly.

"Hey, Dad, can I go to The Castle and visit Daryl and Michonne?" he asked with a big smile when Rick drew near.

"I guess?" he asked Daryl.

"Gotta talk about it with the Stooges, Tony and Ash, Carl," Daryl replied. When his face fell Michonne bent down to look his son in the eyes.

"We'll talk about it, Carl. Rick doesn't have a problem with it. Tony and Ash may," she said gently.

"They won't," he retorted.

"Just sayin', Carl, we need to talk about it. If we can figure it out, we will," Daryl promised.

"Cool," he whooped.

Dr. Rand was staring at Glenn. "Mr. Rhee? Something you'd like to add?"

Glenn shook his head. "No. I'm glad you made it," he mumbled.

"I'm Rick Grimes, Carl's dad," he introduced himself and held out his hand.

Dr. Rand raised an eyebrow before she shook. "Rand."

"I want to say this is a good thing you're doing," Glenn blurted out.

"Thank you," she acknowledged. "Enjoy the rest of the social," she added then headed toward Robert from the Fort.

* * *

"How in the hell do you know Carl?" Daryl asked as they went into the office. When Carl came over and asked to visit with them and before they could get a word in he said it was okay with Dr. Rand. Him and 'Chonne looked at her, shocked, then Rand announced that she'd already met him and Glenn Rhee prior to the socials. Rick came over, said it was okay and Rand, the bitch, left without another word to them about knowing Carl and Glenn.

Carl had headed off to play with Jenny and Mark and some other kid from Blue Mountain. Rick shifted on his feet and then he left with a weak ass excuse about Carl. Glenn apologized again, said he knew they'd end up in a good place and he was happy they did. Aaron walked over and started complimenting the music. Michonne thanked him and that Jesus guy came over. All of them ended up at another table talkin' about the patrol, the food, the Crazy Ass Bunker and the social.

When they got back 'Chonne headed to the solar where Adrian was watchin' Jasper and Andy. He knew Seth and Waya and a few more were on watch, so it was just him and her.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Don't fuck with me, Rand."

She fiddled with a cup of water she'd pulled from the little refrigerator they had in here. Daryl knew she was stallin'. After taking a sip she sat back.

"I met them in Atlanta."

Daryl waited for more. "Well?" he drawled when she wasn't sayin' nothin' else.

"They were at a camp, near a quarry. It used to be a campground."

He rolled his eyes.

"I got into it with Deputy Walsh and left. I wasn't there long. A few days. I headed to the Trail." She sipped again. "I'm assuming no one else made it, but Carl Grimes and Glenn Rhee."

He scoffed. "I was there."

"Not when I was."

He snorted. "You got nothin' else to say?"

She shrugged. "What else is there to say, Daryl? We were like ships that crossed in the night?"

"Fuck you, Rand. You're a bitch." He huffed a laugh. "I can't believe this shit. You were there. You got into it with Shane?"

"Deputy Walsh? I did. He said it wouldn't be a good idea if I left on my own. I interpreted that as meaning because I was a woman."

"You kick his ass?" Daryl smirked.

"Knocked him on his ass." She sighed. "I'm sorry you lost those people, Daryl. I barely remember them." She hummed a sound. "Huh. I guess that Rhee kid wanted to ask me the first time he saw me." She took another sip. "The only ones I remember well were Dale Horvath and Deputy Walsh. His wife had long brown hair, right?"

"I don't think Shane was married. You probably talkin' about Lori. She was Rick's wife."

"That's the guy that kicked you out, right? You were together at the prison with Michonne?"

"'Chonne tell you that?" he asked.

"No, Carl Grimes mentioned a prison. I put two and two together. A prison wouldn't have been the best place to be."

"We did alright for a while." He stood up. "I don't wanna do the next one."

"Okay. I probably won't either. Carl Grimes?" she questioned.

He sighed this time. "Don't know, Rand. Me and 'Chonne haven't seen them people for over two years. Carl's a good kid. They lost his sister, she was born at the prison, in Alexandria." He shrugged. "I guess if we can figure it out. Saw him sittin' with Jenny."

"She likes him. Thinks he's a nice boy," Rand offered.

"What the hell we gonna do with him? How long would he stay?"

"Those are questions you need to discuss with Michonne. You can get him at the social. As long as it's not all the time we can take him back."

"Shit."

* * *

"Well?" Michonne asked Daryl as soon as he walked into their room.

"She was at the quarry camp," he told her.

"That's it?" she asked as she put Jasper in his crib. "Adrian said he 'very well behaved'," she parroted in a fake English accent. She turned with a smile. "He did warn me if our son hurt their little girl. Something along the lines of pistols at dawn."

Daryl chuckled and headed for the loveseat. She sat beside him, her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her shoulders and laid his head on hers.

"She put Shane on his ass," he continued.

"He was a dick," she muttered.

"Thought he was an asshole, not a dick."

"He must have done something to make her think he was a dick."

"Guess they got into it about her leavin'. She thought it was because she was a woman."

Michonne shook her head. "No, she wouldn't have cared less. She probably gave him a suggestion about protection. If he didn't listen to her he would have been a dick."

"Don't matter. She left before me and Merle got there."

"Carl?"

"Rand offered to go drop him off if it's not all the time, if we pick him up from the socials."

She sat up, making him move. "What the hell would we do with him? We have Jasper, work and classes."

"It's what I asked. We'd need to talk about it. What the hell do I know? Bring him here for the night? A night we're not on watch? Have dinner, watch a movie?"

"What did you do with him at the prison when I wasn't there?"

"Shit, 'Chonne, I hardly ever did anythin' with him. He was spendin' all kindsa time with Rick, Hershel and that Patrick kid."

"When I was there, we read comics. When we got to Alexandria, he was off with those Anderson kids."

"Guess we eat and watch a movie."

* * *

"Tony," Rick pulled him aside after they got back to Crazy Ass.

"What's up, Rick? Did Rand say anything to you?" He narrowed his eyes and Rick was kind of shocked. He knew Sasha said they'd figure it out if The Castle didn't want to have anythang to do with them. It made him feel good that they had people he could trust.

"No, but Carl and Glenn know Dr. Rand," he said.

"Shit. Is there anyone at The Castle you don't know?" Tony questioned. "Dr. Rand?"

"She's a doctor, but not a medical doctor," Glenn explained.

"How the hell do you know her?" Ash came up behind Tony. "Did you piss her off? Shit."

"No, we didn't piss her off, Ash." Carl frowned.

"She wasn't with us long. She never met Rick. It was early. She left our camp," Glenn elaborated.

"By herself?" Ash's mouth fell open.

"I guess she's a badass, too," Tony huffed. "Where were you?"

"Atlanta," Rick answered.

"Son of a bitch," Tony sighed.

Ash took a deep breath and let it out. "So, she was with you, in Atlanta, early and left. She didn't remember you?"

"No. She only remembered a few of us," Glenn replied.

"Hm," Ash hummed. "Yeah, she's a badass."

"Can I visit Michonne and Daryl at The Castle?" Carl asked.

"It's up to your dad, Carl," Ash said. "How would you get there?"

"We won't waste the gas taking you, Carl, no offense, but we need it for shopping trips and the socials," Tony responded.

Rick touched Carl's shoulder when he drooped. "We'll try and figure somethang out."

"The next social." Carl whirled in excitement. "I can stay until the one after."

"We'll have to talk about it, Carl. I don't want you gone that long," Rick explained. He nodded to Tony and Ash and waited until they left. "Carl, I don't want you to get your hopes up. We'll talk about it at the next social. You can write a letter. Maybe Daryl and Michonne can come up with another idea."

"Why don't you send it with Jesus and Andrew before they leave? They can give it to them when they get there and pick up the answer when they come back," Glenn suggested.

"Okay," he grunted and headed for the stairs.

* * *

"How was it?" Maggie asked him when they were in bed.

"Fine," he replied.

She slapped his arm. "I know the social was fine. I saw you talkin' to Michonne and Daryl."

He sighed. "It was fine. I guess they got over it. We didn't talk about Alexandria. We talked about the Crazy Ass Bunker, the music."

"That was a good idea, Glenn," she interrupted.

"Jesus, Aaron and all those people standing around thought so. It was, actually," he admitted. "They were nice, well as nice as Daryl can be, I guess. Michonne wasn't…friendly but she was polite. It was fine."

Maggie sighed a little. "I think it'll take a while, Glenn."

She felt him shrug. "I guess. Maybe. I hope so."

She leaned over and kissed him. "We'll be fine. Maybe not friends like we were, we've gone through a lot together, but we'll be friends with them again."

"It was her," Glenn said out of nowhere.

"What?"

"It was Dr. Rand," he stated.

Maggie sat up fast and turned on her bedside light. Glenn scrunched his eyes closed for a minute. "Really?"

"Yep. She only remembered Dale and Shane." He paused. "She thought Shane was Carl's father."

She grimaced. "You didn't tell Rick, did you?"

Glenn pushed himself to his elbows. "No. Are you crazy?"

"What'd she say?" she asked eagerly.

"She and Shane had a disagreement about the camp being safe and she left."

"She didn't say anything else?" Maggie pressed.

"She said she didn't have to explain herself, but she would this time, Maggie. That was it. Later, when Carl asked to visit, I told her this was a good thing she was doing."

"Huh." Maggie shrugged. She turned off the light and laid back down. "Did you tell Tony and Ash?"

"Yes. I don't think they care unless this will screw up the protection, trading and the social. I mean, if Rick were to pull some shit, like in Alexandria, she'd probably cut us off."

"Rick won't do that," Maggie defended him.

"I know, Maggie. We're doing a hell of a lot better here than we ever did in Alexandria."

"We are," she agreed. She felt Glenn kiss her forehead before she fell asleep.

* * *

"So." Jess smiled at Aaron. "I understand you know The Castle Lady, Rand."

Sasha looked up from her vegetable omelet and at Aaron.

He furrowed his brows. "I don't. I never met the woman until the first social."

"Shit. Tony told me you knew her. I was counting on it to get a tour."

Jeez, these people were gossipy, she thought.

She found Carl in his room after she was done eating. "It's Dr. Rand?" she asked from the doorway.

Carl looked up from the papers he had on his footlocker and at her. "Yeah. She said I could visit Michonne and Daryl."

Sasha made a face. "How was it?"

He grinned. "Fun. I spent time with Jenny, Mark and Donny. I had another burger. I hope The Castle always brings them. I wish they'd brought cheese. We didn't throw any knives, though. I guess Dr. Rand wouldn't let Jenny teach me." He shrugged. "It was fun. I liked hanging out with kids my age that have been out there, you know? I mean, Enid knew, but she's not here."

Sasha sighed at the sad look on Carl's face. "I'm sorry about Enid."

"We can't change it," he told her. "My dad said we wouldn't know where to look for her if Maggie and Glenn didn't know. He doesn't want to go back to check. In case."

"Negan. He's right."

"I know, but I wish we could."

She walked into his room and sat on the footlocker, moving his papers away. "Carl, I'm not sorry your dad's not going back. If Negan got a hold of any of us."

"I know, Sasha," he muttered.

"I am sorry you lost your friend."

"Maybe she found another place."

"Maybe. I hope so. You have other friends now. Jenny?" Sasha teased.

He squirmed. "She's Dr. Rand's kid."

"I know. I was there."

Carl sat on his bed and she turned to face him.

"She's cool. She knows a few different languages. Oh." He jumped up and made her move from the footlocker and opened it. He took out a small colored ball and threw it at her. It sounded like it had pebbles in it. "It's a hacky sack. She showed me and Donny last night. She gave this to me. She's giving Donny one at the next social."

Sasha twirled it around in her fingers. "What's it for?"

He took it from her and dropped it on his foot. He kicked out and the ball fell on the floor. "Crap," he groaned. "Jenny and Mark play with this. They kick it to each other. Kind of like soccer."

She picked it up, dropped it and kicked it to Carl. He kicked it back and she missed. "Okay."

"Jenny and Mark say they do that, too. Anyway." He bent down and retrieved it. "We had fun last night."

Sasha ruffled his hair and he scowled at her. "I'm glad."

"Are you going to the next one? I know Glenn talked to Michonne and Daryl. I guess they aren't mad anymore."

"We'll see," she replied.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I hope everyone is trying to stay safe during this. I'm in Arizona and we don't have many cases, but I'm sure we will.**

* * *

"Damn," Lisa scowled. "I wish I'd gone now."

"The social?" Abraham asked her as she was washing dishes. He dropped his dinner plate on the counter and leaned against it.

"Yes. Andrew told me they had music. They were good, too."

"They were," Andrew interjected from the refrigerator, where he was putting the leftovers away.

"Huh."

"Not concert hall good but they knew how to play. They weren't amateurs," he added as he stood up.

"Probably have them at the next one," Lisa sighed.

"I would imagine so. Everyone seemed to enjoy it."

Abraham left while Lisa was finishing the dishes and went down to the watch room. He was on with Rick tonight. He liked the new scheduling system for watch. They would stay on their shift for a week, moving from day to night. It was taking some time to get used to, but it was better than one day on, off for a few days then back on. He wondered if Tony and Ash were going to get rid of the night shift in the watch room. No one could see anything at night on the monitors. They should concentrate up top at night. Tony took Rick's suggestion about spikes. He'd give his own and see what happened.

"Abraham," Rick greeted.

"Rick. How was it?"

"Fine. Glenn talked to Daryl and Michonne for a while. Aaron and Jesus, too." He sighed. "I guess they were polite."

"Fuck them, Rick," Abraham bit out. "You were in charge. They should have followed your lead."

Rick looked shocked. "What?"

"I didn't stutter, Rick. Getting Deanna to step down was a damn good decision. Killing Pete was a good one. Yeah, we ran into a shit storm with no row boats in sight, but it was the right decision. Maybe if they'd been there, we might not have had to leave."

He choked out a laugh. "Maybe, Abraham. Maybe we should have left with them. Daryl."

"The thing is, Michonne should have told you she was leaving and not snuck out in the night like a thief stealing from a collection plate. Daryl had Carol tell you he was leaving. He shouldn't have run after her in the first place."

Rick blew out a breath. "Thank you, Abraham."

"Just calling it like I see it, Rick."

"How are thangs with Sasha?" Rick changed the subject.

He smiled wide. "Good. You and Hannah?"

"There is no me and Hannah," he countered.

"Rick, Rick, Rick," he sighed good-naturedly and clapped him on the shoulder. "My friend. You need to step up your game. If we continue to do these 'socials' she might find another guy to bump uglies with."

"You tryin' to set me up?"

"What are friends for? You need to relax. A nice woman," he trailed off.

"Is that what Sasha is for you?"

"No," he scoffed. "She's not that for me."

"Tried it once," Rick murmured. "Didn't work out."

Abraham pretended he didn't hear that. "It'll take a while to get back in the saddle."

Rick groaned.

"This could be a long, lonely life, Rick," he said seriously. "There's more fish out there, not like before, but we know there are more people out there and not all of them are like the asshole Saviors or the asshole Terminus people or the asshole Alexandrians. Hannah knows how to kill walkers and she's raising a kid. Seems like you have things in common with her."

Like he had with Rosita when she was still alive. He liked Rick. Respected him. He kept his people going, him included. He knew what Rick had gone through. Losing his people, seeing shit fall apart and not able to stop it. Abraham had felt the same when he found Rosita's group. Every death felt like a fail. If Rick could find a port in the storm, like he had with Rosita? No one would begrudge him.

* * *

Rick sat with Abraham in the watch room thinking of what he said. He appreciated the support. His remark about Hannah, damn it, had him thinking of sex. Again. Abraham was right. This could be a long, lonely life now they had one.

He smiled to himself. He spent some time with Daria at the social last night. She was a nice lady. He met a few more ladies from the different communities when he was looking for Carl. It was different than Deanna's party. It was easier now because all of those people had survived and not in some kind of bubble.

He'd been, before this, a nice laidback guy. Always willing to chat with the residents of King County when he or his family were out. The few parties him and Lori had gone to before Carl was born had been fun. He'd mingled. After Carl was born most parties had been with other families or Shane would come over with his girlfriend for a cook out. Being here was good. He'd never be that laidback guy again, but he wasn't like he was in Alexandria and it was a good thang. He rather looked forward to the socials.

He liked Hannah but he didn't want to settle. He might not have a choice but he didn't want to use her. He tried to picture them living here, Carl going off, getting married, having kids and…couldn't do it. Abraham shot him a look when he laughed. "Nothang," he said. Maybe he could ask Hannah to dance if they both went to the next social again. See if maybe having thangs in common was good enough.

* * *

Daryl was in the office with 'Chonne and Rand going over maps of the trail for the next scouting party. "Think we should try south," he recommended.

"Oh yeah," Rand agreed. "The only problem will be the last place I was. If we stay away from the area the scouting party should be fine."

"Where was it?"

"It was some little place near here. Asheville would be the closest 'big' town." She pointed to the city. "What we really need are more detailed maps of the towns or through cabins. I was finding them purely by chance. I mean," she expanded, "I knew they were there but not exact locations."

"We need to check the hotel," 'Chonne said.

"I did, the first time I was in the area. They only cover what's near here. Day trips like the brochure for the Training Grounds. We'll need to find more literature. Most of the places along the Trail will be like Bridgewater, only concentrating on the touristy opportunities closest to them." She shrugged. "I mean, we might get lucky and find a place with some general map, the kind that gives the highlights, you know? They wouldn't be much better than the one we're using now."

"We need to send someone out to find it, is what you're saying."

"We got enough gas to hit more hotels," Daryl said.

"We do. I can go."

"Seth, Waya and Adrian?" 'Chonne asked.

Rand frowned. "This is my idea, Michonne. I think I should do some of the heavy lifting. If I thought you both wouldn't kill me in my sleep, I'd take Andy and go."

"Really?" Daryl scoffed. "You think the Stooges would let you?"

"We could all go. We could consider it a family road trip," she grinned.

"Sure, Clark," 'Chonne retorted.

"'Clark'?" he asked.

"Clark Griswold from 'Vacation'," Chonne replied. "It's a funny movie. I thought so at one time."

"Christmas Vacation was better, in my opinion," Rand countered. "Moving along. If I take a car, I can get over the border of Tennessee in a day. We know the roads aren't that bad. Not compared to other places I've seen. I figure two to three days. Hit the closest hotels in Tennessee. In the meantime, we can plan for North Carolina then Georgia. Those will take the longest."

"When you plan on goin'?" Daryl looked at her.

"Tomorrow. The sooner we get this started the better. I need to be back before we do patrol in a few weeks. Maybe the next day," she mused. "It'll give me time to get my shit together."

"You takin' anyone?" he questioned.

"No. I think I'll be better solo."

Michonne glared at her.

"What?" Rand glared back.

"Solo?"

"I was on my own for a long time, Michonne. I can handle it. It'll be a simple in and out."

"I think you should take somebody," he advised.

She wrinkled her nose and Daryl thought she looked like Jasper when he didn't want to go to bed. He liked to think he knew Rand pretty good so he knew she was going by herself. 'Chonne seemed to think so, too, which is why she didn't say nothin' else to her.

"I think it's a bad idea you go by yourself," he reiterated.

"I can handle it," she repeated in a hard voice.

Two days later Rand put a backpack in her Toyota, hugged the Stooges, kissed Andy and told Jenny to stay out of trouble. Daryl shook his head and stayed with Jenny until the car disappeared.

"Told her to take someone," he muttered.

"She'll be okay. I told her she had to," Jenny warbled out. She wiped her eyes fast and headed back inside.

* * *

"Rand's Car!" Glen yelled from the battlements.

Michonne sighed with relief. It'd been seven days since Rand left for Tennessee. She knew Adrian, Seth and Waya were worried. Daryl and her, too. Andy wasn't bad for three days but on the fourth day it was hard for her dads to get her to sleep. Jenny was fit to be tied and was stockpiling things to go find her. Waya had informed her and Daryl if the woman wasn't back in ten days, they were leaving to find her and taking Jenny with them. Daryl muttered under his breath while she waited and planned how to kick her ass when she did get back.

Everyone, aside from the watch crew, were waiting in the field when she finally stepped through the gate Demarcus held open. He hugged her and called her out for leaving. Rand laughed and turned. She paused when she saw the crowd that waited for her.

"Uh, hi." She waved. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Yes," Jenny yelled before she ran and squeezed her so hard she saw Rand wince. Adrian, Seth and Waya were next. Seth passed her Andy, who squealed and screamed 'mama'. Rand hugged her daughter and kissed her all over her face, whispering in her ear. Whatever it was she said, Andy held on tight. She and Daryl waited until everyone had gone back to the keep to descend on her.

"You said three or four days, Rand. What the fuck?" Daryl bit out.

She held up her backpack. "I found more brochures."

"We," Daryl circled his finger at all of them. "Don't give a fuck."

"He's right, Rand. We don't give a fuck," Michonne raised her voice, took a deep breath and did her own hugging.

"We'll be having a serious conversation regarding this later," Adrian promised.

"Done yet?" Waya raised his eyebrows.

"You don't have to prove shit to us, Rand," Seth sighed. "That's what this was."

"Maybe I needed to prove it to myself."

"Bullshit," Adrian shouted.

"Even if you did, you don't have to do things alone any longer," Waya pointed out. "We understand you'll be gone on patrol. You should do it. You'll have people with you. This stupid scheiss was unnecessary."

"Who the else should I have taken?" she yelled the question. "I was the best person to go. The scouts just got back, I've been on my own, I haven't done a patrol, Daryl would have taken my head and I knew our daughter would be fine." Rand blew out a breath. "This was my idea. I can't ask anyone else to do what I wouldn't do. I won't. I'll be no better than some kind of dictator."

Logically, Michonne knew she made sense. Realistically, no one took Rand for a dictator. She was the opposite of Deanna Monroe. Rand wanted to be in front, not stay behind and depend on others. Michonne admired that in Rand, but it pissed her off, too.

"I ran into a small herd that stuck around for a day or so, no idea why. I was stuck in a hotel. If someone had gone with me, they would have been stuck, too. The roads weren't that bad. I didn't see a lot of walkers. I didn't mean to be gone that long." She sounded defiant, almost as if she was daring them to say anything more.

Adrian, Seth and Waya didn't look mollified at all, Jenny just held onto her and Daryl was frowning. Michonne was relieved, but still pissed.

"You'll take someone with you next time," Waya demanded.

"I'll take someone with me next time," she conceded.

Rand got so much shit at dinner that night.

* * *

Rand took some of the brochures out of her backpack and placed them on the desk. Adrian, Seth, Waya, Michonne and Daryl looked them over while she took her seat.

"So," she cleared her throat. She was going to be in so much trouble. "I changed my mind about going to Tennessee."

"We're talking," Adrian promised.

She wasn't looking forward to it. She understood all of their anger toward her. She'd gone by herself and not to where she said she was going. It's not like she could have called them on her cellphone and tell them her change of plans.

"Can tell," Daryl snorted as he waved around a brochure. "These are all in Virginia."

"Damn it, Rand," Seth shouted. "What in the hell were you thinking? We were going to look for you if you didn't come back in a few more days. We would have been looking in the wrong fucking place."

"You can't do that, Rand. Change your mind on a whim. Not now," Waya ground out.

Michonne raised an eyebrow her way.

"You're right. I fucked up."

"Did that hurt?" Michonne snapped.

"No. Yes. Some," she admitted. "We sent the first scouts along the major freeway. It's not a bad idea, but Daryl's suggestion to stick to the Trail was a sound one. It's what I did for the reasons Michonne pointed out. In the mountains it snows so there's water and walkers aren't coordinated. At first I figured we'd have better luck along the road. Cars, gas and small towns close. The Trail also has towns close to it. If I'd gone to Tennessee and by serendipity, found another community, trading could be problematic. Socials would be out of the realm of possibility. We'd have to make some place between us and them. Would the Training Grounds or the Crazy Ass Bunker want to go? It's pretty far out for them. So, I went to hotels along the interstate looking for brochures for hiking, specifically along the Appalachian Trail. I brought back a lot, as you can see." She paused. "Some of those are duplicates, so we won't have to look over each other's shoulders. I made it as far as Lafayette. That's where the small herd had me trapped for a few days. What I'd like to have the next scouting party do is search the towns around the hiking areas."

"That's not a bad idea," Michonne listened as Seth spoke up. "It's what Adrian and I were doing before we found you."

"Might have an easier time seein' if a community set up, too," Daryl added.

"Right," Rand agreed.

"I think we need to send them out for longer than a month, Rand," Michonne interjected. Picking up a few brochures she looked at the little maps on them. "A quick glance and you can tell they're off the freeway. It'll take a while to get there, search then try and find a community if the signs are there."

"True. I think we should send more than four. We'll send them in a car, stop and hike to the towns. Dangerous, but the state of the walkers I saw, as long as they can find cover with a herd, won't be bad. In my opinion."

"Volunteers?" Waya looked up from the brochure he was perusing.

"Not the four that just came back. Helen will kill me. Jake's done a lot for the Castle. The other three have, too. I'm not sure if we." Rand pointed to Adrian, Seth, Waya and herself, "shouldn't just take Andy and go. Vacation."

"The other places?" Daryl asked.

"Hm. Not at this time, I don't think. They just started doing patrol. I can't imagine what the other leaders would say. They're already losing people for two weeks. A couple of months? Besides, they might not have people that would be willing to do it."

"I'll be honest, I don't want Andy out there," Adrian said. "Us, either. Any of us. I'll admit, part of it is I'm spoiled. The patrol isn't bad. It's short. Two or three months? I think we should ask for volunteers."

"We should discuss it with everyone, now that we have an idea of what direction we're heading," Michonne suggested. "Who knows? We might have a few volunteers."

"I think we should stick with four," Daryl chimed in. "Have them scout the area and look around. If they find somethin' have 'em watch for a while. They come back and tell us what they saw. We'll have a better idea of what we're dealin' with. Then we can send someone to check 'em out."

"We'll plan the route down to the ground. If they don't come back in say, three months, we'll send someone to check on them," Waya said.

"No fuckin' pigeons," Daryl stated.

"That didn't work well," she laughed.

"Still pissed," Seth snorted.

* * *

Daryl spent the next few days laughin' at Rand. The Stooges put her on lockdown worse than when she was pregnant. She took care of Andy, taught her science and language classes, did yoga with 'Chonne, worked on the farm and did watch. When she wasn't doin' any of that she was in the solar with Andy and Jenny, who was still pissed at her, too. Rand knew she fucked up and was takin' her punishment without any bitchin'.

He even saw 'Chonne laughin' at her a few times. "Guess you didn't think that out well, did you?" was a constant question from her, Helen and Janet. The day of patrol he walked down to the field with Michonne and Jasper and saw the Stooges, and everyone else not on watch, waiting for the rest of the communities to show up. Helen, Janet, Nichole, Megan and Rand had their backpacks on. 'Chonne did a last minute check to hers, checked her katana, gun and knife were all there.

"I won't go down the road," Rand muttered.

"Good," Waya said.

"It's not an unreasonable request, Rand," Adrian drawled.

She hitched her backpack again when the first person through the gate, Jesus and some other white guy with blond hair, showed.

* * *

Jesus looked at the patrol. "Huh," he grunted.

Andrew looked at the ladies. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"Nothing."

Adrian, Seth and Waya were the ones to wish them good luck as Rand and Michonne led them out of the gate.

He looked at The Castle patrol. Yeah, Rand and Michonne were fast. He watched as Helen and Janet stayed near the middle with him and Darius, a young black guy from Blue Mountain. Megan and Nichole stayed with Andrew, Alex, a middle-aged white man from the Training Grounds and Steve, a young white guy from the Fort. They made Staunton after dark. Rand passed out the watch schedule, while the rest pulled out whatever food they had in their bags. He munched on the dried carrots and the jerky Helen passed out. Andrew pulled out more dried vegetables and put them in the cupboard for the next patrol.

Jesus was unsure how to approach Rand. She was very professional, no chit chat from her, except with Michonne. He did notice the other ladies kept a close eye on the woman until it was their turn for watch. This would be an interesting patrol.

Robert and Pauline seemed surprised to see her when they showed up at the Fort. They chatted for a few minutes as some of the other residents of the Fort came out and caught up on the news of the communities. They didn't stay long. Blue Mountain was the same. Juan and Miguel came out and talked to Rand and Michonne hung back. Interesting, she was speaking to them in Spanish. Michonne seemed to be following the conversation a little.

He wasn't surprised this time when Rand and Michonne disappeared.

* * *

Michonne was happy she decided to do yoga. She and Rand were setting a fast pace and some of the others did have a hard time keeping up. She snickered.

"What?" Rand asked.

"I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up."

"Me, too, honestly," she admitted.

The rest of the trip passed in silence. It was a nice brisk day and Michonne decided she didn't mind doing patrol. She missed her husband and son. She noticed Daryl had put a picture of Jasper in her backpack, like she'd done to his. It was nice.

It took them the better part of the day to get there, the sun was passing its zenith when they made it to Lenny's place. Rand checked the mailbox while Michonne eyed the road.

"Most of the traps are off to the sides, but some are triggered with rocks on the road," Rand told her.

"How in the hell did he do that?" Michonne asked.

"I've got no idea. They're kind of elaborate. Seth and Adrian were impressed." She held up empty hands. "What do you think?"

"He's never not left something," she said.

"Right. He's left weird ass notes or weird ass notes and pictures," Rand murmured as she stared toward Lenny's place.

"Don't." She grabbed Rand's arm to stop her from going. "We'll go to Blue Mountain and ask them to send someone to the Castle. Adrian, Seth and Waya can come check this out."

She pressed her lips together in a hard line. "Fine. We'll go back to Blue Mountain."

Michonne smiled at her. "I know that was hard."

Rand shrugged as they headed back the way they came. "I thought it out. He might not have anything to say." She paused. "Or it could be a trap."

"Progress," she teased.

Rand flipped her off.

They made it back to Blue Mountain around dark and Juan sent someone to the Castle right away. He offered them a place to stay for the night in their gated community. Settling down in an empty house Michonne sighed with relief.

"You think we can catch up with them?"

"We can do it." Rand grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "We'll have to haul ass, though."

"Ugh."

"We can ask for a ride," she suggested.

"No," Michonne sighed. "We'll do the whole thing."

"Good, because I didn't want to ask for a ride."

"This place reminds me of Alexandria a little," Michonne said later.

"Hm. Do you think we should take over Bridgewater and make it a little town?"

"No. We like the Castle as it is."

"I'm glad. I'm not really a fan of 'suburban hell'."


	6. Chapter 6

After Helen passed out the watch schedules Nichole and Andrew headed upstairs while the rest of them sat around and relaxed as much as they could. It was a lot looser this time out, like Sasha said. The meet and greets had brought the communities closer together. Jesus laid on the floor of the living room listening to the conversation flowing around him.

"The music was a good idea," Steve from the Fort complimented.

"Thank you. The musicians have a lot of time to practice." Helen and Megan laughed hard at Janet's answer.

"Can we bring instruments?" Steve raised his hand. "We play a lot, too."

"Don't see why not," Megan checked with Janet before answering.

"If they can improvise, all the better," Janet responded.

"They were good. What else do you do?" Darius questioned.

"We do a lot of things. What do you do?" Helen asked.

"We have badminton tournaments," Alex from the Training Grounds volunteered.

"Oh, good one." Janet nodded.

"Soccer," Darius from Blue Mountain said.

"Horseshoe tournaments," Megan spoke up.

"Good idea. Horseshoe's," Steve replied. "We have basketball and volleyball tournaments."

"Bingo nights." Helen laughed. "It can get out of control."

"We have poker nights," Alex grinned. "Us, too."

"Occasionally, we have 'Salsa Nights'," Darius crooned. "We have a few horns and some of the guys played in mariachi bands before. We have to do it in the middle of the community. Usually every couple of months."

"Plays." Steve held up a finger.

"Us, too." Janet held up her hand and they high fived each other.

Jesus raised his eyebrows. He couldn't believe this shit. Crazy Ass played board games and did puzzles or read and talked. They didn't do organized tournaments or games.

"Bingo nights?" He raised his hand.

"Bingo nights. One of our residents, Glen, he was in construction. One of his class projects was bingo cards, tokens and number balls. We use a hamster wheel."

"Wait. Class?" he interrupted.

"We have classes," Janet said. "Anyone that has a skill or a hobby they're good at can teach a class."

"You sign up for it with the understanding you finish," Megan cut in. "Sometimes there's not much to do. You know. After everything's done. Why not?"

"The clubs are closed and so are the movie theaters. Need to do something." Janet rolled her eyes. "And hey, we got bingo nights out of it."

"I think we have some woodworking tools in the shop classroom. I should suggest it," Alex mused.

"We do this thing we call story time," Alex began.

"Like reading to the group?" Megan raised an eyebrow.

"No," he laughed. "We tried that once. It didn't go well. One person starts and says something along the lines of: 'Once upon a time' and the next person could say 'Phoebe Jacobs was running from skineaters then the next person goes from there. Everyone gets to say something. We've come up with some really funny stories."

He was glad when it was his turn for watch because those people were still talking about their tournaments or different activities they did together. Shit.

Jesus was preoccupied the next day. Not enough to not be aware of his surroundings or the fact Rand and Michonne joined them, finally, near the end of the day. He did corner Megan and asked more about the classes. Apparently, people really signed up for them. There were syllabi and a project or something at the end of the class. The Castle had dubbed Janet the 'cruise director' and it all started with a baby shower she and Helen had planned for Michonne.

Linda was also surprised to see Rand leading the patrol. Jesus had a feeling that she would be doing one as well as Pauline from the Fort. Michonne chatted with Brock and Marcy, the rest of them talked with the other residents of the Training Grounds. He was relieved when they finally reached Crazy Ass.

Tony and Ash, hell everyone came out, to talk to the patrol. He noticed Glenn and Rick held back but Carl ran right over to Michonne and gave her a hug. He talked a mile a minute about the letter he sent, he was mad she wasn't there to read it, she promised she would but they had a plan in mind. He whooped and called his dad over. He didn't pay attention to what they said. Rick would tell them if he wanted.

His group tended to have their own socials at Crazy Ass. After Sasha came back from patrol Rick tried to have quiet time with just them. Not that they didn't socialize with the rest of the residents, but those people hadn't gone through the shit they had and it had bonded them. Jesus was a little weirded out they knew Dr. Rand before she went to The Castle. Who knew it was still a small world after all.

The rest of the patrol was as uneventful as the first half and it went quickly. Before he knew it he, Andrew and Alex were on their way home. Fuck if he didn't have some shit to tell Tony and Ash.

* * *

"What?" Tony's mouth dropped open.

"The Castle has classes and bingo nights. The Training Grounds has badminton and poker tournaments. The Fort has basketball and volleyball tournaments, which makes sense, they're in a school. Blue Mountain plays soccer and has salsa nights. The Fort and The Castle put on plays. Horseshoes. Flag football. Chess. All of those communities, I can't believe the amount of shit they do," Jesus huffed.

"Son of a bitch," Ash hissed.

"Surprised the hell out of me," he said. "At Hilltop we didn't do any of that. We'd all do our own thing, you know? Work in the garden, do watch and just hang out. I'd be outside the walls on runs and shit. Messenger boy duties. Here? Me and Brick practice karate. It's good here." He raised his hand as if to avoid censure. "Way better than Hilltop."

"Classes? What the hell?" Tony looked at Jesus in shock.

"We never thought," Ash whispered.

"No shit. We're definitely spending more time with Robert, Rand, Juan and Linda. Would anyone here be interested in doing that stuff? I mean, I know Rick and Carl throw around baseballs and had a few snowball fights," Tony asked Ash.

"I don't know," she shot back. "Maybe we should ask."

"Fucking classes," Tony sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

Jesus shrugged a shoulder. "One of The Castle's residents was in construction. His class project was bingo cards, tokens and number balls. They use a hamster wheel, mesh on either side, to put the balls in."

"That's smart." Ash frowned.

"I guess Janet's the 'Social Event Coordinator'." Jesus did air quotes.

"Fucking social event coordinator," Ash laughed harshly. "Son of a bitch."

"We are so far behind," Tony groaned.

After everyone, who wasn't on watch, was situated in the living room Tony and Ash stood up. Everyone stopped talking and waited.

"Alright. Jesus got back from patrol and he had some interesting things to tell us."

"Is The Castle going to make all of us do patrol now?" Hannah asked.

"What? No," Tony frowned. "The other communities do things."

"What things?" Maggie leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees.

"Horseshoe tournaments. Badminton tournaments. Poker nights. Salsa nights. Bingo nights. Things of that nature. Ash and I were wondering if any of you would be interested in doing those things. Most of what we get on shopping trips is to survive or books and puzzles. I'm thinking maybe we should expand a little," Tony said.

"The Castle has a social event coordinator. They teach classes," Ash sighed.

"Classes?" Glenn frowned.

"One of their residents was in construction. A class project was bingo cards, tokens and number balls," Jesus spoke up. "They use a hamster wheel with mesh on either side to hold the balls. Helen says it can get crazy. The same with poker nights at Blue Mountain, according to Alex."

"It's something to think on. We're not going to go crazy shopping for shit like that, but if we're out we can look. If anyone's interested," Tony suggested.

"If you are, let me know. I'll be the social event coordinator," Ash advised.

"Poker nights sound good," Abraham nodded.

"Bingo nights," Betty smiled. "That sounds fun."

"What else do they do?" Jess questioned.

"Hacky sack. Volleyball and basketball at The Fort. They and The Castle put on plays. Salsa nights at Blue Mountain. The Training Grounds tried poetry slams but settled for open field nights. Singing, dancing type stuff," Jesus muttered.

"Hell, what don't they do?" Rick frowned.

"Anything that involves electricity. Most of the physical things are during the day. The Training Grounds, during the winter, has some kind of storytelling circle. One person starts the next person adds on, shit like that."

"So," Ash cut through the mutters. "These are just ideas. We're past the point of survival. Now we should live a little."

"Doing the socials, we've only done two, is fine. We should do our own things, too. When I was working in the city there was always shit to do. 'The City That Never Sleeps'. I didn't do a lot of it. After work my buddies and I went to the bar or to baseball games. I don't know how to play poker. This." Tony waved his hand around. "We've got a good place here. We've got trading partners and people we can depend on if shit happens. We should have done it sooner, but we got into a rut. Everyone was. This was hard on everyone. We can relax a little."

"Classes?" Dave frowned.

"We don't have to do classes," Ash sighed. "We can do other things. On our next shopping trip maybe we should hit up a sporting goods store for, I don't know, lawn darts or table tennis or something. Any ideas?"

"We should try for a sporting goods store period," Glenn said. "We can take as much as we can carry that will fit in a truck."

"Good idea in theory, Glenn, bad in practice," Tony remarked. "We need to think about this. We don't want all kinds of shit laying around. We're not going to waste space for skies, or soccer balls if we don't have enough interest. We should make a list, discuss it amongst ourselves and come to a general consensus. Keep in mind this is new. We'll have 'big eyes'. Realistically, would anyone be interested in badminton? We don't have to have tournaments, but a game here or there?"

"We could ask The Castle about setting up games between the communities," Maggie recommended.

"Good idea," Tony complimented.

"It is a good idea, Maggie, for down the road. We need to get our shit together first," Ash responded.

Jesus didn't disagree.

* * *

"They teach classes?" Sasha asked Glenn when they were gathering eggs. She'd been on watch when Tony and Ash led the discussion with Jesus and Andrew's time on patrol. Andrew hadn't said much, he'd been on watch while the other communities were sharing their down time activities.

"I guess," Glenn replied as he took a few eggs.

She did like living here with the fresh eggs. She missed the pigs, too. They had been easier to take care of because Rick and Carl did it, but the end game had been bacon. She missed bacon.

"And have tournaments."

"I can't believe it," she muttered.

"It's a good idea. I mean, we have a lot of down time here, Sasha. We don't really do anything with it. Don't get me wrong it's great we have it."

"I hear you."

"There's only so many weeds you can pull."

"I know. It's a good idea. Shit. I haven't done anything like playing a sport in…Since before this," she commented.

"I didn't do it before this," Glenn told her.

"Don't sign me up for any games against the other places," she declared.

He laughed. "I know. We'd embarrass ourselves."

"I'm surprised Maggie didn't drive down there and demand a list of the things The Castle does," she teased him.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure her or Ash won't try and ambush Dr. Rand at the next social. Maggie may want to go visit with Carl."

"Do you get mad sometimes she left you?" she questioned.

"Not really. It happened and nothing can change it," he repeated the mantra.

"We're all so very Zen here," she stated.

"It's a good place to be Zen."

* * *

Daryl let out a breath as they all stood at the end of the road leading to Lenny's. He didn't want 'Chonne to come, but she said she was invested now.

"Let's go, Adrian," Rand prodded.

He and Seth took point. Him and 'Chonne were next with Rand and Waya at the end. It was slow goin' until they hit the gate. Adrian waved and nothing happened. Seth pounded on the wall and the door flew open. A man Daryl'd never seen before stood blocking the entrance with a gun pointed right in their faces. Seth took the gun and Adrian pinned him to the wall.

"Where the hell is Lenny?" Rand asked.

"You best let him go," a voice said from above. They all looked up and saw a blond guy holding a bow and arrow at them. Waya rolled his eyes and held up his M16.

"Gun." Rand held out her right hand. "Bow and arrow." She held out her left. "I'm going with the gun."

"I only see one," a woman sneered.

Rand turned fast, sword out. "I'm still better than you, Annie Oakley."

A blond woman was holding a pistol on all of them.

"We're not here to cause trouble," Michonne explained as she pulled her katana. "A man used to live here. We're checking on him. He hasn't communicated with us in a while."

"This is our place," the dark haired guy yelled. "We found it. No one was here. No one living, anyway."

A guy with reddish brown hair opened the gate further. "He's not here. We found this place full of ghosts in the trailers."

Rand dropped her sword. "Shit."

Adrian let the guy go and Seth gave him his gun back, after he took the magazine with a smirk.

"Who's in charge?" Waya questioned.

The dark haired guy standing in front of Seth scoffed. "What's it to you?"

"My name is Rand," she introduced. "We got off to a shitty start." She held out her hand to the man. He stared at her for a minute before he shook.

"I am. My name's Reid. Reid Greeley."

* * *

Once inside the wall, they didn't venture far, the rest of the people with Reid Greeley exited a few trailers. Michonne felt like she was looking into rundown, funhouse mirror versions of the prison group and Andrea. And a few more. She saw Daryl eye Connie, an older white lady with short-ish, grayish hair. It was a little longer than Carol's used to be, from what she could remember from the last time she'd seen the woman. She almost did a double take when she saw a young boy, close to Carl's age, with an eyepatch over his right eye. He was carrying a little girl, who was staring at them wide eyed, and headed for Reid and the blond that reminded her of Andrea.

"You said you check on this guy? Why?" Reid demanded.

She sighed. "It's a long story."

"We got nothing but time," he retorted snidely.

"Fine," she sniped. "I run a place called the Castle. We." She jerked her thumb at them, "along with a few other communities, do what we call a patrol. Basically, a group goes to all the communities in a certain area. We trade; goods and or information. Lenny chose to trade only information. We'd come around, check on him and see if he'd seen anything regarding walkers or dicks. If you choose to stay here the offer stands. We can trade with you; goods and or information. You don't have to. You can tell me to go fuck myself and we'll never come here again. In fact, we'll steer any of the other communities, we know of, away from you. You'd be on your own. If you want to trade, we ask you pick a color for an armband. This way if you do a run on another town, if any of the other communities happen to be there, they won't shoot you on sight. And vice versa." She took a breath and continued. "Included in this is help with defense. If you can get a messenger to us, in the event you have dicks knocking on your walls, we'll come help you. On the other hand, if you turn out to be dicks, I'll kill you all."

Reid laughed derisively at her.

"You got a set of brass balls on you, lady," the blond man with the bow snorted.

"Why?" A black woman around her age, with short dreads and light brown eyes, a machete at her side, questioned suspiciously.

"We're all trying to make it in this fucked up world," Waya coolly replied.

"Do we have to make a decision now?"

Rand shook her head. "No. Leave a note in the mailbox at the end of the road. We'll come around next month."

"Perhaps you'd like to discuss it now and ask any other pertinent questions," Adrian suggested.

The large black guy and the young white woman with dark hair stared at Adrian.

"You're English," another young black woman with short hair pointed to him.

"Yes."

"You're Indian," a young Asian guy pointed to Waya.

He raised his eyebrows. "You're Asian."

"Chinese," the guy countered.

"Why should we trust you? Did you know he was feeding them?" Reid glared at Rand.

The horrified look on Rand's face mirrored everyone's, including hers, Michonne was sure.

"What?"

"He was feeding the ghosts, you dumbass," he snarled.

"No we didn't know. This was his place. He never let us in and how the hell do you know, asswipe?" she yelled.

"I used to be a cop in Charlotte. I've seen my share of bodies before. Some of those trailers had fresh bones inside."

"Shit," Seth cursed.

"We knew there was a chance he didn't have anyone else in here, Rand," Adrian reminded her.

"We did. This sucks."

"Glad you couldn't get him to mingle with us now?" Daryl gave her a stink eye.

"It's why he said he'd take the traps down. I bet he thought you'd be easy," Waya guessed.

"He would have been in for a rude awakening," Seth chortled. "Rand and Michonne?"

"I'd still like to find his crazy ass," Rand ground out.

"Best guess? He's a walker," Waya surmised. "It must have happened in the past week or so. Those traps were elaborate. He'd have had to be careful taking them down. No note would have guaranteed you would come down here, Rand, if only to check on him and maybe get him to come to the social. Looking around, he probably never left. And if what Reid says is true, neither did any of these other people."

"How the hell do you know?" Reid parroted Rand.

"I used to be a cop. I've dealt with my share of bodies, live as well as dead," he retorted.

"Touché," the big black guy commented as he flashed a look at Reid.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you to anyone that's still reading this story. I realize with everything going on (so many choices), I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read this.

I've answered some of the reviews in a separate story. For those of you that have taken time to leave a review, thank you. Again, I appreciate it.

* * *

"How many communities?" a thirtyish man with blond hair asked.

"Not telling. I have to ask them first."

"Really? You're in charge of them?" a young black woman asked snottily.

"No, but they trust us. Until you want to be known to the others you get nothing from us. We respect privacy. If you say no? You get nothing," she replied.

"Will these other places let us stay?" the reddish brown haired guy questioned.

"I can't answer that. I can ask."

"What about you? This castle place? Is it really a castle?" Reid quizzed.

"It's a real place and we're full at the inn." Rand paused. "We have a place you can check out," she offered. Daryl whipped his head in her direction along with everyone else. "What? We do," she continued.

"Where is it?" Reid pounced on the offer.

Rand sighed heavily. "I'll tell you what. If you don't want to stay here, I wouldn't, we'll take two of you and show you. I'll leave the rest of mine will here. You check it out. If you like it you can have it. There's a caveat."

"Of course," a black lady with dreads like Michonne's sneered.

"We use the place once a month. We can still use it until we make another," Rand ignored the bitch.

"What for?" the woman that reminded him of Carol challenged.

"Socials," Adrian said in a bored tone. Yeah, he was pretty much done with this bullshit, too.

"Socials? Like parties or somethin'?" the young white girl with brown hair broke in.

"Something along those lines," Waya responded.

"Must be nice," the young black girl sneered.

"Fuck it. We're done," Rand snarled. "Leave a note in the mailbox when you make a damn decision."

"We need to talk about this," Reid said.

"You do that. We've got other shit to do today," she retorted. "We'll see ourselves out."

"Wait," the blond man ran over. "We've had."

"Look, dude, if you say you've done some shit or been through bad shit, save your fucking breath. You people aren't special. We worked damn hard to get where we are today. This wasn't fucking handed to us on a silver platter. We've all done bad shit and have been through bad shit. Some more than others. It's degrees. We don't want to kill you, although for you I'd make an exception," Rand pointed at the young black lady, and the big blond guy stepped forward. "We don't want your shit. We're all going through this not just you, sweetie." Rand pointed to the lady again. "Leave a damn note. If not? Good fucking luck." Rand was halfway to the gate when she turned. "I will warn you. You fuck with any of the communities we know of? I'll make it my life's mission to hunt you down and kill you. Starting with you." She pointed to Reid.

"Can you wait? Please? While we talk about it?" the reddish haired guy requested.

"You have five minutes."

"Brass fucking balls," Daryl heard the black guy say to Reid Greeley. She had somethin'.

"You think they'll go for it?" Daryl asked.

"I'm not sure," Rand answered. "I would. I can't imagine the smell in those trailers. Plus, it's gross. You really think Lenny's a walker?" she questioned Waya.

He shrugged. "It makes sense, Rand. All of a sudden he's not here? Something happened to him. They either killed him, I don't think so, Reid seemed genuine no living people were here, or he's a walker."

"I wonder how they found the place," Seth murmured.

"Good question that," Adrian seconded.

"I told ya that guy was a crazy fuck," Daryl snorted.

"I'm glad we didn't check this place out when we didn't find anything," 'Chonne stated.

"Me, too. I saw a few big wheels," Rand whispered.

Daryl saw them, too, when they came inside. It reminded him of the trailer park he grew up in. Half them people were probably old, livin' on social security, dependin' on family or friends for groceries and shit.

"They probably didn't have anyone to come get them. Not that they would have been better off out there," Waya noted. "We had a few trailer parks on the rez," he explained at the look Seth gave him.

"Fine," Reid accepted the offer. "Me and Tariq will go."

* * *

"Michonne and I will take you," Rand said. "Adrian, Seth, Daryl and Waya will stay here. It'll take us a couple of hours."

Michonne pulled her katana and followed Rand. When they got in the car Rand drove like a bat out of hell. She couldn't blame her.

"That could have gone better," Rand muttered in French.

She sighed. "You think?"

"I forgot what it was like when you meet new people. You never know if you can trust them or not."

"That's not why you're mad."

"No. Sort of. I get it, there's all kinds of crazy. Lenny took the cake as far as I can tell. Who the hell does that?"

"Crazy people, Rand. Crazy people."

A glance behind her saw the two men, Reid and Tariq, watching intently.

It didn't take them long to reach the hotel. Reid stared at the spike filled fence and nodded once. Tariq let out a soft whistle.

"We don't lock this. All the communities are welcome to use it. If you take it." She opened the door and motioned them inside. "We'll give you new locks you can pop yourself. Still in the packages."

Michonne watched, katana out, as the two men walked around the lobby.

"The water works. It's not hot, but it runs."

"How?" Reid looked up from behind the front desk.

"We put in a septic system. Anything you need, you need to find."

"Will you bring us up here?" Tariq questioned as he strolled around the empty lobby.

"Nope. All on you."

"We can take what we want from the trailer park?" Tariq asked.

"You found it you keep it," Rand replied. "The rooms are cleaned out and opened. No sheets, towels, hygiene products, pots, pans, etc."

"Keys?"

"In the back room behind the front desk. We've given the option to the communities to stay, if they like. We'll rescind if you take the place." She let out a breath. "Look. I forgot what it's like when you meet new people. Normally, I'm not that big of a bitch."

"Still a bitch, though," Reid snarked.

"I can be."

"I think you have some big, brass balls, if you can do what you say," Tariq commented.

"She can," Michonne verified.

"We haven't checked if the showers work," Rand continued.

"How do these social's work?" Reid asked.

"Nope. Look, man, stop trying to get information about the other communities out of me. It's pissing me off."

"Fair enough," Reid conceded after an intense staring contest.

"You said we'd have to find what we need? Anything around here?" Tariq leaned against the front desk.

"You have to find out on your own. We did."

"Let's check out some of the rooms." Tariq looked around.

"The stairs are down that hall." Rand pointed.

At their nods they left.

She and Rand were still in their places, weapons out, when the two men finally came back down.

"We'll take it," Reid declared.

"The showers work," Tariq relayed.

"Let's go. We really do have things to do today," Rand said.

When they came outside there were a few walkers Reid and Tariq killed before they got in the backseat of the car. The ride back was silent. After they made it back inside Lenny's, Reid and Tariq went over to their people. The young boy hugged the man and the little girl made happy sounds.

"Anything?"

"We cleaned some of the trailers," Daryl reported. "Fucker was crazy."

"Cameras?"

"We didn't get into all of them," Seth grumbled.

"They're taking it. Even if they did take the cameras they probably wouldn't know how to install them."

"Then we'll come back and get them," Waya confirmed.

"We'll go to the hotel in a week or so, see if you're there," Rand told Reid after it looked like he and Tariq were done reporting their findings. "We will have to tell the other communities the hotel is off limits except for socials. You can join us, if you like. If not, you'll hear us and you stay away."

"Fine. We'd like to look in," the blond woman that held a gun on them said.

"If that's the case I'll come find you, Reid, for the meeting. You are the leader, right?" she asked at his look.

"I am."

"Then you need to at least meet the others. Non-negotiable. If you 'peak in' you're known."

"Fine."

"We'll have it at the hotel. In nine days."

She turned on her heel and left, her people behind her.

* * *

Daryl pushed passed Michonne, who greeted him with a smile when he walked in, and headed for the shower. He couldn't touch her now. He needed to shower. Get the stench and _crazy_ off of him before he could look at her. The shit he'd seen today. Fuck. The Governor had nothin' on this guy. He was glad Rand had listened to him and Adrian about not goin' down that road. If 'Chonne had gone? He'd a probably gone off the rails worse than Rick had at the prison after Lori died. They'd have gone and found them and it would have been bad.

He didn't know how long he stayed in there, but when he felt clean enough, he got out, dried off and went to the wardrobe for clean boxers and jeans. 'Chonne was waitin' on him with Jasper and food. She also put out a bottle of scotch, which he drank straight from, ignorin' the glass she had by his plate.

She didn't say anything as he scarfed down the vegetable lasagna and held on to his son. When he felt kinda normal, he pulled her in for a kiss and held onto to her.

"How was the meetin'?" he asked in a low voice. It brought a smile to his face when she shivered. Jasper, tired of being ignored, squirmed his way onto Daryl's lap and put his head on his chest. He loved his son. He needed the quiet, the _normal_.

'Chonne moved away a little, watchin' him close.

"Fine. Robert offered to help Reid a little," she said quietly. "Reid made a crack about the socials. Brock said he and his group weren't special and everyone had gone through shit. Tariq, I guess, tried to explain. Linda and Juan weren't buying it. Robert told the man we're all going through this. He didn't need to be an ass and make it harder on his people. The look Reid gave Rand? I don't think those two will ever be friends."

He chuckled. "Yeah. We don't gotta."

"I can understand Reid a little. We were the same when we got to Alexandria. Those people were clueless and having parties. I'm sure Reid thought the same of us until he got schooled."

"Rand's right. No one gave us this on a silver fuckin' platter. We worked for this. Not like them people in Alexandria."

"We did. How fast do trees grow?" she teased.

"We got more people now. It won't be as hard." He poured himself a drink this time and sipped it, rubbing his hand down Jasper's back. "It was bad, 'Chonne."

"Mm," she murmured.

"We found Lenny."

She raised her eyebrows.

"He was a crazy fuck. I'm glad those people didn't make it through all them trailers." He let out a breath. "He made one of the singlewides a cage. Found walkers in there. No hands and no teeth. He was fuckin' 'em."

"What?" she gasped.

"Waya figured they was all women. He dressed them up in underwear. Skimpy shit. Lingerie, Adrian called it. Must not have been the neighbors, maybe some of 'em were, but people that got caught in the traps. We found cages in the woods. Found some of the neighbors. They had kids. Young like Jasper, just growlin' and walkin' around the trailer, diapers on the floor. It was disgustin'. Waya thinks Lenny somehow locked them in there, the old people and the kids, anyway. We saw bones, fresh bones, like Reid said, in with 'em. He was a crazy fuck."

"Shit," she whispered. "Where did you find him?"

"In the cage. He had on some kinda silky robe thing. Door musta jammed or somethin' and he couldn't get out. He died."

Michonne shuddered.

"I'm really glad you didn't go down the road and I'm glad you didn't let Rand go. I don't think she coulda taken that kinda crazy."

"Rand offered the place as a backup for the other communities," she murmured.

"We're burnin' it. We found the cameras and monitors. Rand'll probably have to have Martin look at some that weren't workin'. That trailer was clean. Fucker cleaned it."

He didn't tell her about the bloody pit, the videos or the few babies they'd found in their cribs. He knew what Dominic was talking about now. They'd melted in there. It almost made him puke when he saw one, mouth chomping at the air, little legs trying to move. "We didn't take nothin' else. We're going back tomorrow."

"Please be careful," she pleaded.

He kissed the top of her head when she laid hers on his shoulder. "Got the Stooges. We'll be fine."

* * *

Maggie was excited for the meeting to start. Tony and Ash didn't usually call full meetings. They only called for one since they'd been here, when they came back from The Castle. Rand had called an emergency meeting of the community leaders for today. She even sent ten gallons of gas so they could get there. It must be big.

"I wonder what the hell this time?" Jesus said from beside her.

"I hope she asked about organizing games between the communities," Maggie said excitedly. "Wouldn't it be fun?"

"Loads," Abraham returned mockingly.

"Come on, Abraham," Maggie enthused. "It would be fun."

Before Abraham could say anything Tony pushed his plate away. Ash had been tight lipped since they came back. She seemed kind of mad, Maggie thought.

"As you know, Rand called for a meeting today. We picked up Linda and Brock and went to the hotel. It's been rented out. We can use it for the next social, the last one, until The Castle sets up a new one."

"What?" Lisa gasped.

"The community down by Blue Mountain isn't there anymore. A group of people found it. The guy, his name was Lenny, was by himself." Tony cleared his throat. "It was a trailer park. I guess Lenny was feeding his biter neighbors."

"What?" Hannah shrieked.

"Reid's group, the name of the guy that took over the hotel, found it. And from what he told Rand the crazy guy was feeding his neighbors, who were biters."

"That's fucked up!" Jesus exclaimed.

"Yeah. It is," Ash agreed.

"We have a drawing of what Lenny looks like. The Castle is putting out an APB on him. If we see him, we can deal with him how we see fit."

"Can we go get Rand and have her take care of him?" Jess asked.

"That's an option, too," Tony responded.

"The picture sucks. Andrew, you can do better. Would you please sit with Rand at the next social so we can get a better one?" Ash requested.

"Hell yes," he declared.

"Good. I hope she's right in assuming he's a biter now," Ash recounted.

"The Castle is scouting a new hotel for the socials. We're more than welcome to help, if we want, once they find one. Rand said it would be appreciated and they wouldn't ask us to do more than clean out the biters. They'll find the fencing and spikes, put in the septic system, wash it down and we have a new place," Tony reported.

"The next social is it until the new place is up and running," Ash told them.

"This one took a while, according to Rand, but they were winging it."

"Her words," Ash interrupted.

"They have it down now."

"Her words," Ash cut in.

"And it shouldn't take as long as last time."

"Her words," Ash said for the third time.

Tony rolled his eyes at her. Maggie heard Abraham laugh along with Aaron and Dave. Even Rick chuckled. "That doesn't mean we can't get together with the Training Grounds for a social of our own," Tony told them.

"We could arrange it with Linda. Find a place in between us and get together. We could offer to do it here, but with winter coming I don't think it's a good idea," Ash advised.

"What's this Reid guy like?" Aaron asked.

Tony shook his head and Ash looked like she wanted to laugh.

"I think he's a dick," Tony answered then shook his head again. "I think he's been through some shit."

"He didn't like we were having parties. Brock," Ash started laughing.

"Brock told him he wasn't special. We'd all been through shit not just him. Juan and Linda didn't hold back and Robert told him he didn't need to be an ass and make it harder on himself and his group." Tony let out a laugh of his own. "He and Rand won't be friends."

"Shit. I thought he was going to punch her in the face," Ash choked out.

Maggie hunched over a little. She saw Glenn look at the floor and Sasha found the wall fascinating. Rick was looking at his boots. Abraham was like a statue.

"She must have given him the same spiel as the others because whenever they said something? This guy was glaring at her."

"I can understand where he's coming from," Rick spoke up. "When we got to Alexandria those people were having parties. We'd been dealing with cannibals, having our home blown up, my people killed right in front of me. They had no idea what it was like outside their walls." Rick shrugged. "I can understand him."

"Hm. I guess you can," Tony acknowledged.

"Do you have a problem with our parties?" Ash questioned harshly.

"No. I go to them. I have a good time. Maybe, if he sees this didn't fall into our laps, we work for this, maybe he'll see, too."

"I think it'll take time. It took us time to get used to…this." Glenn expressed.

"Maybe you should talk to him, Rick," Aaron recommended.

"That's probably a good idea," Tony seconded. "You've been through cannibals. I'm not sure if anyone else in the communities escaped cannibals. I can't imagine there being anything worse than that."

"On another note, Lenny's place is open. Reid and his people took some things, the basics, from a few of the trailers. There's a whole trailer park we can shop, if we want. Or, we can use it as a backup place," Ash finished quickly.

"A what?" Maggie furrowed her brows.

"Hm. The Castle has a backup place. Rand offered this trailer park to any of the communities as a backup place," Ash sounded pissed.

"She lives in a stone castle and she has a backup place?" Jess practically shouted.

"Apparently so," Tony answered.


	8. Chapter 8

"Who the hell would do that? Make a backup place?" Jesus asked Rick the next day as they walked the fence for watch.

The meeting had been interesting, Rick thought. He didn't think of the past much, but he wished he and his people had found Rand instead of Aaron.

"Someone that lost a few places, I guess," Rick murmured.

"I guess. I never thought of doing something like that and I lost a few."

Rick grunted an agreement.

"It makes you wonder what the hell she's been through," Jesus continued.

"Not cannibals."

Jesus looked at him quickly. "Maybe she has. I can't believe those Terminus people are the only ones now. Not after that Lenny guy."

"I hope they were, Jesus, I hope they were. I thought me and my people would be dead. I was pissed. When they found us at Gabriel's church we slaughtered them."

"They found you? I thought Carol blew the place up."

"She did. We didn't bother to check if they all died. We wanted away from there. They found us." Rick closed his eyes and remembered taking his machete to Gareth. It'd felt _good_ when he'd done it.

"Are you going to talk to that Reid guy?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. When we first got to Alexandria. Those people. They had parties like nothang was goin' on outside the walls. I think if he sees us working for this? It'll be better than me tellin' him."

"Actions speak louder than words?"

"Somethang like that."

* * *

Carl looked around for Michonne and Daryl and Jenny when he got inside the hotel ballroom. When he didn't see them he found Donny, with Mark, standing in line for food. When they finally got a table Mark told him Rand, Michonne, Daryl and the others were on watch but the rest of The Castle was here. "Last shindig for a while," he whooped. "Until we get the next hotel done."

"Jenny stayed too?" Carl asked the boy.

"Yeah. She's not letting Rand out of her sight."

"Why?"

Mark shrugged. "Rand did something stupid. My dad wasn't real happy with her either. The whole place is kind of mad at her." He shrugged again. "Anyway, Rand wanted the rest of us to have a good time."

"Did Michonne say anything?"

Mark frowned. "No. I know Rand and her were dealing with Reid's group. They have a few kids. A boy around our age and a few little girls."

"Are they coming?" Donny questioned as he licked his fork.

"They might peak in, but they don't have anything for the buffet." Mark pointed behind him at the food tables.

* * *

He and Ash headed for Robert and Pauline as soon as they walked in. "Where's Rand?" Tony asked as he looked around for her.

"Doing watch for The Castle," Pauline muttered.

"Helen told us," Robert continued. "I think she's being punished."

"What?" Ash looked as confused as he felt.

He laughed a little. "They didn't tell us, but they seemed pretty pissed at her."

"Because of this Reid guy?" he questioned as he looked around for people wearing black armbands.

"I don't think that's it," Linda said as she and Brock sat down. "Helen and Bradford didn't seem too concerned by him."

"Robert," Juan greeted as he and Miguel sat with the rest.

"Juan. How are you?"

"Good. Are you sending anyone to help with the hotel?"

"We're thinking about it," Pauline responded.

"If you do, I have several people that would like to volunteer, maybe we could carpool," he suggested.

Robert and Pauline shared looks. "Sounds good. We'll do that."

"What about you, Linda? Are you sending anyone?" Ash looked at her.

She shifted in her seat. "We'll be sending people to help but we're thinking of backup places."

Robert laughed. "I'm not surprised. We are, too."

"The woman lives in a castle and she has a backup place," Pauline said. "It's a good idea. Having one."

"We could help each other," Miguel spoke in slightly accented English. "Juan and I talked about it with the others of Blue Mountain."

"It was the Lenny guy," Linda blurted out. "If a group of crazy people like that found us? We wouldn't be able to wait for help from The Castle." She shrugged. "Besides, I don't think they'll ever have to use it. Not after what Michonne and Daryl told us about the attack on their place."

Robert nodded. "I agree."

"You mentioned something about it. What happened?" Juan questioned.

"I guess they had a group of people try and attack them. They rammed the fences. They were able to protect themselves, for the most part. Rand lost three people. It's why she started the patrol. To let us know about shit like that," Pauline answered.

"We're going to move here," Linda announced.

"What?" Ash gaped at the woman.

"We're going to move here," Linda repeated in a hard voice. "I don't have a lot of people. If something were to happen The Castle is right there." She pointed toward the door. "We're using The Training Grounds as our backup place."

"Reid and his group are here, too," Brock added.

Linda glared at the table. "We're going to ask to move in here."

"You think he'll go for it? After what you said to him at the meeting?" Pauline quizzed.

"We'll trade. I'm not sorry for anything we said to the guy. We've all been through the wringer with this. Brock was right. He's not fucking special," she spat out scathingly. "He doesn't have a lot and Bridgewater was cleared out. We have enough for all of us to get through the winter. If we do it now, we can get more fencing for this place, put it up and get ready for spring planting." She turned to Juan. "The container gardening idea we got from you, Juan. We'll do it for the winter."

"That's a pretty bold move, Linda," Robert commented.

"We know it won't be easy, but it'll be easier moving in here. And it has running water. Something we don't have."

"He's got almost as many people as we do," Brock uttered. "With us and his group? We'll have a better chance of fending off assholes."

Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Shit," Ash moaned. "We were going to ask if you if The Training Grounds wanted to have socials with us until the new place is done."

Linda laughed a little. "That's a good idea, Ash."

"Are you serious?" Tony probed.

She let out a breath. "Yes. We've done nothing but talk about it since the meeting. Helping with the hotel started the ball rolling."

"There's your chance." Robert motioned his head toward the ballroom doors.

* * *

Glenn and Maggie watched as Linda and Brock headed for the man with the black armband inside the ballroom doors. Glenn was disappointed Dr. Rand wasn't here. He was kind of shocked to find out her, Michonne and Daryl were doing watch while the rest of The Castle enjoyed the social. He'd also been shocked when she'd shown up, leading the patrol. Tony and Ash had done one. He just assumed, because it was Dr. Rand and she'd done all these things, she wouldn't do a patrol.

It had been nice to see her do one, though. It made him rethink. Maybe he should do at least one.

"I think, Maggie, I'm going to do at least one patrol," he said to her as he ate.

"Why? Tony and Ash said we don't have to," Maggie reminded him.

"I know. Dr. Rand did one."

"So? So what?"

"I guess I'm surprised she did one."

"Why?"

"Dr. Rand's done a lot of things for the communities. She started the protection ring. She started the socials. She started the trading. The Castle has classes and do things together." He paused. "I think everyone should do at least one."

"What happened to just doing runs?" Maggie sounded hurt.

"I prefer it, no question. I'm inspired," he smiled at her.

She didn't smile back.

* * *

"I wonder what the hell that is?" Abraham watched Linda from The Training Grounds as she made a beeline for the man with the black armband standing inside the door.

Jesus looked up from his plate. "Huh."

It seemed like the entire room stopped and watched as people wearing black armbands walked inside, following Linda to The Training Grounds section. Robert walked over, spoke to one guy, pointed to the food and stepped back. Juan nodded at the man.

The group looked around the ballroom then hesitantly picked up plates and headed for the buffet. Abraham thought it was like a movie moment when people went back to their conversations and the volume rose, like a slow motion action shot.

He and Jesus kept an eye on The Training Grounds and the new group.

* * *

Rick spotted the new people with the black armbands as they headed for the food. He could understand the hesitancy. Looking at the others here, the other communities, maybe they could, too. Linda was the only one that approached them. Everyone else looked them over but didn't say anythang to them.

Carl flopped into the chair on the other side of him. "Michonne and Daryl are doing watch. She said she'd tell me their plan," he almost whined.

"Carl," he scolded.

"What?" he growled.

"I'm sure they had other thangs to do."

"Mark said they were dealing with Reid's group," he pouted.

"They haven't forgotten about you, Carl. Michonne wouldn't do somethang like that."

* * *

Sasha was chatting with Laura and Choon-Hee when the new people followed Linda to The Training Grounds section. She recognized the look they wore. The beaten down, crazy look. After a year of living in Crazy Ass she still recognized it. She was surprised Linda approached them.

"We don't know much about them," Choon-Hee stated when she noticed Sasha watching.

"Rand's very tight-lipped about some things," Laura informed her.

"Where is Rand?" Sasha had looked for the woman when they finally made it inside the ballroom.

"She's grounded," Choon-Hee snickered.

"She deserves it," Laura laughed with her.

"She led the patrol," she noted.

"The spa patrol? Yes. It was her first one. Her and Michonne's. She'd been pregnant before her turn came up then waited until Andy was older. I think Michonne waited for her to do one."

Sasha's mouth fell open. "Rand and Michonne had never done a patrol before?"

"No. We have pregnancy rules we all decided on," Laura answered.

"You called it the spa patrol?"

Choon-Hee snickered again. "Yes. We were making fun of Rand and Michonne stopping at the communities to get their hair and nails done."

"Andy's her son?"

"Andy's her daughter," Laura corrected.

* * *

Maggie didn't have as good a time at the social as the last one. Rand wasn't there for her to pick her brain. Tony and Ash spent most of their time with Robert, Pauline, Juan, Miguel, Linda and Brock until Linda took the new people to The Training Grounds section. Everyone from The Training Grounds stayed by the new people. She noticed they didn't hover, but stayed close.

Glenn was thinkin' about doing a patrol. When she finally saw Sasha, she looked like she got hit in the stomach and didn't say much. Carl was depressed because Michonne and Daryl weren't there and couldn't tell him the plan for visiting. She noticed Rick was smilin' more. He'd spent some time with Daria. In fact, him smilin' a little more was the highlight of the social. Hopefully, he'd realize that Hannah wasn't right for him. Maggie didn't have anything against Hannah but she thought Daria was more confident than Hannah. Daria, she thought, would fit right in with them.

She turned her back on Glenn in bed that night.

"Why are you mad, Maggie? Doing one patrol wouldn't be bad," he huffed.

"We're good here, Glenn. I think the patrol is a good idea. I love we don't _have_ to do one." She turned over to face him "I know nothin' bad has happened on patrol since we've been helpin'. I don't want the first time you go to be that time," she told him.

He pulled her close and she put her head on his shoulder. "I'll have people with me, Maggie. It's not like I'd be by myself."

"I know," she retorted. "If I lost you."

He kissed her forehead. "You won't."

"You don't know that, Glenn. We're fine here."

"I'm…ninety percent sure, Maggie, nothing would happen. It would only be once. I've heard the stories. Hell, I don't think I could do two. Not with the way everyone else says they book."

She choked down a laugh. "Why?"

Glenn sighed. "We're all impressed by what The Castle has done for the communities. I don't know. Maybe to see if I can? To contribute more?"

"I don't want you to," she admitted.

"I know. I want to do one."

"Will you think about it? Please?" she pleaded.

"I'll think about it," he promised.

* * *

Aaron was watching Carl as he played with the hacky sack Jenny had given him at the last social.

"How was the social?" he asked.

Carl stopped playing and sat beside him the porch steps.

"It was alright. The new people showed up and sat in The Training Grounds section," he reported.

"Rand let them?"

"She wasn't there. Jenny wasn't there. Michonne and Daryl weren't there. The Castle brought way more food this time. The Fort and Blue Mountain didn't say anything."

"Jenny wasn't there, huh?" he teased.

Carl frowned. "Dr. Rand was in trouble, I guess, and she had to do watch. Jenny wasn't letting Dr. Rand out of her sight."

Aaron thought that was interesting. The woman seemed formidable to him from the stories alone. "She was in trouble?"

"Mark said the whole castle was mad at her."

"She was grounded," Sasha said from behind them.

He choked as he turned to face her. "She was grounded?"

She let out a strangled laugh. "Choon-Hee and Laura said she was grounded."

"Doesn't she run the place? How can she be grounded?"

"I don't know." Sasha frowned. "She'd never done a patrol before."

"What?" He gaped at her.

"Her and Michonne. This was their first patrol. The Castle called it the spa patrol," she bit out.

Aaron wouldn't have known, not from the way Jesus talked about them leaving, coming back and basically running the entire way. "Huh. Jesus said they were fast."

Sasha stomped down the stairs, sat down and leaned against the railing on the last one, making him and Carl move their feet. "So did Andrew. She may have given him a heart attack."

He and Carl laughed. Andrew slept the entire next day after he got back and decided he needed a better exercise regimen, like the drama queen he could be sometimes. Aaron had gotten used to living with people in one building, learning their quirks. It was interesting and he liked it. He couldn't imagine these people in Alexandria.

He rarely thought of the place anymore. He was living here. Even before Rick or the Wolves or the Saviors, he and Eric hadn't been living in Alexandria, they'd been existing. Following the mantra 'they couldn't change what happened' they'd adopted had been good for him, mentally. He was ready to do a patrol, see more of the area. It would be a long hiking trip. With walkers.

"First time or not, I don't want to do one with her," he decided.

* * *

Abraham let Linda and Brock inside while Esteban went to get Tony and Ash. When Tony and Ash showed up Tony motioned for him to open the gate. He watched as they headed toward The Training Ground's car. He couldn't hear a damn thing, but saw Linda droop. Brock leaned against the car and fiddled with his knife.

Esteban narrowed his eyes and watched with him. After a while Linda nodded and they got back in their car. He opened the gate to a frowning Ash and a thoughtful Tony.

He wasn't surprised when Tony called a meeting the next day.

"The Training Grounds is moving," Tony announced.

"What?" Hannah gasped.

"The Training Grounds is moving," he repeated. "They've worked out a trade with Reid's group to stay at the hotel. They'll be leaving in a few weeks."

"Shit," Maggie groaned.

"Why?" Jess raised her voice in confusion.

"Linda doesn't have a lot of people there. Between her and Reid's group they'll have forty people. The Training Grounds doesn't have running water and we know the hotel does," Ash said.

"They'll be using The Training Grounds as a backup place," Tony muttered.

"Brock and another person will be coming by to see our solar water heater. I guess he was in construction. He thinks if he can see it he can figure it out. Linda wants to get a look at our brick oven, too."

"Does Dr. Rand know?" Glenn asked.

"She does. Her words were 'you can live wherever the hell you want'. She threatened Reid." Ash finally laughed. "About his 'special snowflake status' getting the better of him because she didn't start this shit to get people killed. It wasn't the end goal."

"Paraphrased," Tony chuckled before he let out a breath. "So, those two will never be friends."

"Who'll be leading them?" Betty raised her hand.

"We didn't get many details, Betty. I'm sure they discussed it. Ash and I volunteered to help them move some of their stuff if they need it. Just me and Ash," Tony emphasized. "This is kind of shocking."

"Robert and Juan are discussing backup places and I wouldn't be surprised if they do it in Bridgewater," Ash mused.

"Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Blue Mountain and the Fort combined," Tony added.

"What about us? Are we going to make a backup place in Bridgewater?" Maria questioned.

"Nope. Our backup place will be the Training Grounds," Tony answered.

"Does Linda know?"

"It was her suggestion."

"Anything else?" Ash requested of the room.

"Okay. We don't know more than we've told you. The patrol may. Are you still on, Aaron?"

"Yes. I'm looking forward to it," he said.

"Good luck, Aaron," Andrew snorted.

"Interesting," Sash said later at dinner.

He shrugged. "I guess. We don't need to make a backup place now."

"Who the hell does that?" she scoffed.

"Someone who lost places?" he asked rhetorically.

She frowned. "We lost places and we didn't do it."

"Don't know what to tell you, Sash. Me and Rosita's group never stayed in one place long. The longest I stayed anywhere was Alexandria. Here? I don't think we need a backup place. If the Training Grounds is on the table I won't be surprised Tony'll take it."

"Me either. It doesn't sound like we'll need to do much. Just, if we're attacked, make it to The Training Grounds."

"Works for me," he grinned at her.

"Me, too," she grinned back.


	9. Chapter 9

"You know, the next time I make a crack about a suburban hell I want you to punch me in the face," Rand demanded as she sat in her chair.

Michonne laughed. "Are you sure?"

She put her head on the desk. "Yes. I jinxed myself."

"It's not that bad, Rand," she chastised.

She sat back up. "One of the reasons of trying to get the communities to interact with each other, Michonne, was to have more eyes in more places. We're not getting it. We're getting two communities moving in with each other." She slammed her hand on the desk. "Damn it."

"On the bright side, we're starting the Trail search."

"The only bright side," she grumbled.

"You knew it was a risk, Rand."

"I had considered it. If the Training Grounds and the Crazy Ass Bunker would have made one big hippy commune, where they were, I don't think I would be so…bothered. They're moving right next door," she ended with a shout.

"NIMBY, much?" Michonne quirked an eyebrow.

""NIMBY'?"

"'Not in my backyard'," she responded dryly.

Rand shrugged her shoulders. "I guess. I'm afraid it will cascade."

"You think?"

"I'm not sure. I'm damn sure none of those other places have a backup place like we do."

She scoffed. "I could have told you that. We didn't."

Rand rolled her eyes. "That makes no sense. I started looking for one after my second place was lost to walkers."

"We're not all brainy like you, Miss MIT," she mocked.

"I'm going to regret telling you that," the woman grunted.

"It won't be that bad, Rand," Michonne sighed. "It's not what we wanted, I agree. We don't run the world so we have to deal with it."

"We do. The Trail Search."

"It worked out, you know, the socials being put off for a few months," she interjected.

"Yeah, we'll be dragging ass on that. Not at the top of my priority list. Dominic, Tammy and Jonathan Wilmer have volunteered. Jake won't go. Should we send the three of them or wait to see if someone else volunteers?"

"Choon-Hee was asking questions," Michonne offered.

"Hm. She's good with knife and a gun. She won't put up with Wilmer's bullshit for too long."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "No one does, Rand. Frankly, Daryl and I were shocked he even made it back here."

The woman snickered. "Yeah. If I'm being honest, me, too."

"Carl?"

"Carl Grimes. Like I told Daryl we'll take him back. We can pick him up. It's up to you guys," she responded.

She stood up. "I'll check with Daryl. Thank you."

"What the hell are you thanking me for?"

"For being my friend. My sister."

Rand opened up the laptop. "I'll see you later."

Michonne smiled on her way out the door.

* * *

Daryl stood with Martin, Adrian and Waya as they watched the monitors they'd installed. When they all lit up Martin whooped. "I still got it," he crowed. "What?" he snapped as he saw the looks on their faces. "It's been years, not counting the few things I've done for the Castle. You know what this means? We can cut down on watch."

"We'll be parkin' our asses in here. How the hell is that cuttin' down on watch?" Daryl asked.

"You've done watch outside in the winter, right?" Martin sniped. "Freezing my balls off on the walkway or on the battlements. Now, we can stay inside, some of us," he qualified, "where there's some heat. And it's close to a bathroom."

Adrian laughed. "Yes, some of us can and it is."

Daryl looked at the RV they'd installed the monitors in. It had been a bitch gettin' it here, but they weren't bringing any of crazy Lenny's shit inside. Waya didn't talk about his Indian ways a lot, but he'd decided none of his shit was comin' in the Castle. Daryl didn't care. He kinda agreed with him.

He found 'Chonne outside the solar watchin' Jasper as he played with Andy, supervised by Tsula and Jenny. He came up behind her, putting his arms around her waist. "Hey. We got sitters. Wanna go fool around?"

She turned in his arms and put her own over his shoulders. "You know," she whispered before she nipped his ear like he liked. "I do."

He kissed her before pulling back. He held out his hand, waiting on her. She took it and let him lead her to their room.

A few, very satisfying, hours later, Daryl looked at the clock on the night table, he was impressed by his stamina. Yoga did wonders. He kissed 'Chonne. "I love you, Michonne Dixon," he whispered.

She kissed him back. "I guess yoga's not so 'girly' now. Is it?" she laughed.

"Shut up," he muttered. "No. It ain't so girly now, woman."

She was still chuckling as she got out of bed and put on some clothes. "I love you, too, Daryl Dixon." She headed for the loveseat and patted the space beside her. "We need to talk."

"Huh," he grunted. "You pregnant again?"

"No," she huffed. "It's about Carl. Our deal was: no talking about them when we're in bed."

"Shit." He sighed, got out of bed and put on his boxers then flopped on the loveseat. "What about him?"

"Rand said we could go pick him up and take him back."

"Alright. We got the gas for it."

"We do. We need to decide."

"Yeah," he sighed again. "We do. We promised."

"We did. I know I said we were done talking about them but if Carl comes to visit."

"Still don't gotta talk about them a lot, Michonne. I'm over what happened. You're over what happened. We got a good place and good people. Yeah, it sucks they lost Alexandria. Carol and li'l ass kicker gettin' killed hurt, but I dealt with it." He paused. "We'll be fine."

She let out a breath. "I wanted to be sure."

He rolled his eyes. "Damn, woman. We said we were done talkin' about 'em. You."

She put her hand over his mouth to stop him from talking. "I love you, Daryl. I don't want. I want. I know it was hard and you never talked about Carol. I. If you want to talk about her."

He kissed her fingers and moved her hand away. "I made my peace with it, 'Chonne. I did. We all made decisions back then we can't change now. Hell, nothin' less than knockin' Rick out and tyin' him down in one of the cars and drivin' away would have made him leave that place. Carol, too. I'm sad they died for it 'cause that place wasn't worth it. I'm fine."

"Okay." She stood up and held out her hand. "Let's eat."

He put his hand in hers and she pulled him to his feet. "We worked up an appetite."

"Shut up," she laughed. "It's dinner time. We're spoiled. We eat regularly."

"That, too. How's Rand?"

"You got the better end of the deal. How are the monitors?"

"They work. We got a good view all around the Castle."

"Good. Do you think we should adjust the watch?" she asked.

"Don't know. Maybe. We don't get much action around here," he answered as they entered the solar to see Jasper playin' with plastic blocks. "Jasper."

He looked up. "Adoda. Hungry."

"Come on, little man. Thanks, Lupe," he told the girl as he picked up his son.

"Aucun problème."

They spent dinner talkin' about the Training Grounds and their move. He could tell by Rand's face he did get the better end of the deal. She was kinda pissed and he didn't blame her. The communities were supposed to help watch the bigger area around them, help get trade started again, not fuckin' shrink and stay close to them.

After dinner, they put Jasper down and met the Four in the solar where Rand was still bitchin'.

"Shut up, Rand," Seth demanded.

"It's not ideal, Rand, but you can't make them stay," Adrian snapped. "Bitching about it won't change it."

"The Trail scouting will start soon. Tab said she'd go," Waya relayed. "We'll get them out there, hope they find another community and go from there."

"No." Seth wagged his finger when she opened her mouth again. "No more talk on the subject of the Training Grounds raining on your parade."

"Fine," she muttered.

"Thank you," Michonne sighed in relief. "I was getting ready to punch her."

"You wish." Rand stuck her tongue out.

"You should be happy, Rand. You got good daughters, whatever you're doin' with those three." He pointed to the Stooges making Adrian laugh. "You got good friends." He pointed to 'Chonne and himself. "You got more plans. We got a nice life here. I know it ain't what you want. We're doin' better than them other places, that's for damn sure. It ain't gonna go back to what it was no matter how much you want it to."

"Succinctly put, Daryl. Thank you," Waya nodded.

"Tired of hearin' her, too, man."

Rand flipped him off.

* * *

Maggie was freezing her ass off walking the perimeter fences. She hated winter. The only thing she hated more than winter here was doing watch at night in the winter. Abraham's suggestion they could save on electricity by cutting off the watch room at night was good, but it put more people up top at night. It made sense. No one could see anything in the monitors at night anyway. Maybe they had needed them before but they didn't now. Which led to her out here, at night, for her watch shift, walking the perimeter fences. When it got really cold sometimes she'd fantasize killing the Governor over and over on her shift.

She didn't really think of the prison much. It had been the best place she'd had since this started. She didn't regret anything from that time of her life. The prison had been shitty but they'd been tryin to live. She rarely thought about Hilltop or Alexandria. She had too many regrets. The longer they were here the more she could understand Rick and him bein' happy that place was gone. She wasn't burdened any more. She wasn't happy those people were dead or walkers, but she wasn't in charge in an impossible situation.

Here? Around here she knew she could lead a place. Maggie got aggravated a little when Tony and Ash called the shots. They were good ones, ones she would do, but she wanted to be in front, making the decisions, knowing what they knew. Maybe they could scout around, find another place. Which was stupid. If they found another place they'd have to find everything again. Start over. She wished she'd decided to leave Hilltop, found Rand and have a place already made, like Reid's group.

Near dawn, it couldn't get here fast enough for her, she yawned. When she saw Jess heading in her direction she smiled at the woman as she passed and headed for the kitchen. Someone, she didn't know who, had started coffee. Maggie smiled in happiness as she poured a cup, fixed it up and headed down to her room. Glenn was awake and drinking his own at their little table, which still gave her a little jolt of happiness when she saw it, before she kissed him and sat down. He pushed some fruit her way and she dug in.

"I hate doin' watch in the winter. At night," she muttered between bites.

"It sucks."

"How much longer?" Maggie knew she was tired because she sounded whiny to her own ears.

"Five months."

"Ugh."

Glenn kissed her forehead, took her empty dish while she stripped and passed out on the bed.

She'd missed the patrol when they'd shown up. She found out through the grapevine, which Ash confirmed, the Training Grounds would like a little help and they'd get more flour for it. It was a good trade. They had a lot, but more flour was always welcome.

Maggie'd seen Carl bouncin' around, too. He'd gotten a letter from Michonne and Daryl. They were comin' to pick him up to stay the night at The Castle. "They must have a lot of gas," Ash said to her as they were reviewin' the monthly inventory of food. Maggie agreed.

"No shit. They have enough gas to pick Carl up and bring him back the next day?"

"It's what the letter said," she reiterated.

While Maggie knew she could lead a place, she had led a place, she didn't think she'd ever be as prepared as this woman seemed to be. It's why she wanted to spend more time with her, learn from her. If there was one thing that irritated her about Tony and Ash it was they didn't push Rand for more information on how she ran The Castle. There was nothin' she could do about it, so she pushed the irritation aside and concentrated on what she could do here.

She contributed as much as everyone else. Maybe she should do more.

* * *

Carl felt like the two weeks he had to wait was longer than what the calendar said. He was excited to see Michonne. And Daryl. And The Castle.

"You got everythang, Carl?" his dad asked for the millionth time.

"I'm good. I'm only going to be gone one night, Dad," he repeated for the millionth time. "And if I need anything I'm sure Michonne and Daryl will have it."

He knew his dad was worried. He and his dad hadn't really been apart since he showed up at the quarry camp. He'd gone off at night in Alexandria but he always came back home. He was excited. His dad worried too much. He was almost fifteen and it wasn't like he was going anywhere dangerous. He was going to visit Michonne and Daryl and he was staying in a stone castle.

It was early when a black Toyota made it close to the fence. He saw Michonne and Daryl get out, Hannah let them inside and he was running over. He gave Michonne a hug. "Thanks," he said.

She ran her and down his hair. "We promised," she reminded him.

"I know."

"Michonne. Daryl," Ash came over.

"I gotta go get my bag," he told her.

"Get your dad, too, Carl," Daryl instructed him. "Gotta talk to him."

"Okay."

He picked his bag up from inside the house and saw his dad watching out the windows. "They want to talk to you, Dad," he relayed.

His dad let out a deep breath and followed him out. Ash backed away and headed toward the barn.

"We'll take care of him, Rick," Michonne said.

"I'm not worried," he responded.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Yeah you are. 'S fine, Rick. We'll have him back close to late afternoon tomorrow."

"Thank you. For doing this."

He saw Michonne smile. "He'll be fine," she promised. "If you're ready, let's hit the road."

"Woo," he shouted and hugged his dad again before getting in the backseat of the car.

* * *

Sasha came to stand by Rick as they watched Daryl and Michonne leave. "He'll be okay. It's Daryl and Michonne."

He sighed. "I know. I'm just worried."

"I know. He's growing up, Rick," she reminded him. "Be happy for him. He can here."

Rick turned to her with a smile. "When'd you get so smart?"

She smiled back. "I picked up a few things here and there. I was following a smart man. It kind of rubbed off."

"Thank you, Sasha."

"Anytime."

* * *

Michonne turned in the passenger seat to see Carl with a big smile on his face. "Okay. We didn't really plan anything. We figured we could give you a tour of the place, depending on what you want to see, it'll take some time. After that? It's what you want to do."

"We got some electricity. Can watch a movie or somethin'," Daryl suggested.

"Cool. We do, too. Not enough to watch movies. What do you have?"

"We have a lot," she replied. "You can go through and pick something out."

"Usually we all eat together, except the ones on watch," Daryl added.

"That's cool. We do that, too," Carl told them.

"But, if you want to eat with just Daryl, Jasper and I, we can do that," she proposed.

He shrugged. "No, I'd like to eat with everyone. I'm used to it now."

"We are, too. So, how's living in the Crazy Ass Bunker?"

She smiled a little as Carl told her and Daryl about some of the people there. Michonne was surprised to hear it was a bunker, underground. She saw Daryl frown. She could relate. She didn't think she could live underground. He told them about the gym, the watch room, the chickens, the rabbits, the gardens, the horses. How much he hated shoveling the barns. He and Rick had snowball fights last winter. They threw around baseballs and footballs. He liked the hacky sack Jenny had given him and how almost everyone played with it.

"We'll give you another one," she offered.

"Thanks. Jesus is good. I guess he played with one in college. Aaron, too. How's living in a stone castle?"

"It's nice," Daryl responded.

"It's different from when we first found it."

"Yeah," Daryl agreed. "We done a lot."

Michonne laughed. "We did." She paused. "So? You like Jenny?"

She laughed again when Carl blushed. "She's nice."

"Ya know Rand is her momma," Daryl reminded him.

"Yeah."

"Just sayin', Carl, Rand's her momma."

She slapped Daryl on his arm. "Don't threaten him, Daryl."

"Ain't a threat, 'Chonne."

She turned to Carl again. "Ignore him, Carl. Rand's nice."

"She can be a bitch."

"And she can be a bitch," Michonne repeated. "She's a nice lady."

Carl squirmed on the seat. "Maggie. She wants to talk to Dr. Rand."

Daryl barked out a laugh. "Dr. Rand?"

"It's what she made Shane call her; Dr. Rand. She answered to it," he said defensively.

"We know she's a doctor, Carl. She doesn't use the title anymore. You can call her 'Rand'," she chuckled.

He scrunched is nose. "Okay. Maggie wants to talk to Rand."

"About what?"

Carl shrugged. "I don't know. She didn't tell me. I heard her talking to Glenn. I didn't hear all of it."

"She can talk to her at the next social," Michonne decided.

"Those are cool. I met this kid from Blue Mountain, Donny. His guardian, Daria, is nice. Jenny taught me how to throw knives."

"We heard. Rand wasn't happy."

"What? Why?"

"'Cause she didn't ask Rick, Carl."

"Did she get in trouble?" he asked worriedly.

"No, she didn't get in trouble," Michonne assured him.

"Cool. Donny knew how to throw them already."

Michonne and Daryl spent the next hour listening to Carl talk about the socials. She knew Rand had ulterior motives when she wanted to start the market place. Getting the communities more involved with each other was a damn good idea. She did laugh when Carl credited the woman with the socials. Rand had said it was Ash's idea and she could picture her face if she told her everyone thought she'd done it.

In spite of the ulterior motives, it was nice to hear they were enjoyable to the others. The Castle treated it as another event for the calendar, not anything truly special. She and Daryl laughed when Carl told them some of the things the Crazy Ass Bunker had done to get ready for the first one. Hair dye? Really?

* * *

A/N: Thank you to everyone still reading this story.


	10. Chapter 10

Carl was so excited when they parked the car and went inside the spiked fence. His eyes got wide when he saw some cows and a few horses munching on grass.

"Watch where you step, Carl," Michonne advised.

"Right."

They made it through the grass, the cows ignored them. The horse looked up and the little horse wandered over. He held out his hand to pet it.

"That's Savior," Daryl told him. "He's our mule."

"Savior?"

"He saved Tom, Mark and Rand. Mark named him. Push his head away, gently, Carl," Daryl warned. "Got more to see today."

"Okay."

"Drawbridge," Michonne told him before he could ask. "It's safe. We had to replace it."

He walked to the side and looked over. "Cool."

"We swim in the moat in the summer."

"Nice. Can I come swimming?"

"We'll see."

He walked through a large door and into what, Michonne told him, was the courtyard. He didn't know where to look and he turned over his gun to Waya in a daze. They passed a few buildings and headed into The Castle. "You'll be staying in our room, Carl. The keep is full," she said.

"Isn't this The Castle?" he asked as she opened the door where he saw a cot in the living room.

"No, The Castle is everything. This is the keep. It was a hotel."

She had him put his bag down and they met Daryl in the lobby.

He didn't know how long the tour outside took, but he saw everything. He liked the battlements. "You can see a lot," he commented as he turned in circles. "It's big."

"Yeah. It's a good place," Daryl smiled a little. That was something Carl didn't think he'd ever get used to seeing. He'd known Daryl since Atlanta and he'd never smiled. Ever. He seemed nicer here. He wished Rand would have stayed in Atlanta with them until his dad showed up, then they could have come here.

The tour of the keep wasn't long. He wasn't interested in the laundry room. Sometime when they were touring the keep Michonne and Daryl picked up Jasper. He waved to Jenny and she waved back. Before he knew it, it was time for lunch.

The dining room was huge, but everyone sat at one long table. He was busy looking at everything so he didn't pay attention to what he ate, but it was good and hot. They went to the solar where he picked out a few movies to watch later.

"So? What do you think?"

"Can I move here?"

Michonne laughed. "No, Carl, you can't move here. You've been quiet."

"It's. This place is huge. You have a lot of people. The calendar of events. A lot of food. Everybody's nice."

"We have our share of not nice people, Carl."

He flopped on the sofa. "It doesn't seem like it."

"Hm. We do," she assured him. "It's too cold out. Did you want to play cards? Read? This guy," she nudged Jasper, who was tugging on Michonne's hair, "needs a nap."

"I think I need a nap."

"Can sleep on the rollaway, Carl," Daryl told him. "We don't sleep on the furniture in here."

That was such a dad thing for Daryl to say, his mouth dropped open. "Wow. You sound like my dad."

"Your dad's a smart guy," Daryl said.

"Is he? He kicked you out," Carl snorted.

"And if we're going to have this conversation I need to put Jasper down," Michonne uttered.

Daryl took Jasper from her. "I got it, 'Chonne. Come on, little man," he crooned to his son and it almost made Carl cry. Shane had called him little man.

"I'm getting us some juice, Carl. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah. I'll stay right here. I think I'd get lost," he joked.

She came back a few minutes later with blue water and a few glasses. "It's our version of juice. I used to see these in health food stores in Atlanta before. It's flavored water. We drop blueberries inside. It might take some getting used to," she warned.

He took the glass she passed him and took a sip. "It's good. Tony and Ash's grandfather had a lot of frozen orange juice. We used it up. We mostly drink water. Coffee. There was a lot of coffee. Tea. We have some booze."

Daryl came back and sat down next to Michonne. Close to her. He shuddered. "I don't want to talk about it. It happened and we can't change what happened. I miss Judith, though."

"I'm sure," Michonne sympathized. Carl wanted to yell she didn't know what the hell she was talking about when he remembered what they talked about in that one house. She'd had a son.

He cleared his throat. "Monopoly?"

"Monopoly it is," she smiled.

"Man, I hate that game. I always lose," Daryl complained.

"We can play something else," he offered.

Michonne stood up and went behind the bar. "We'll play Monopoly."

Carl, surprisingly, had a good time playing Monopoly. He wasn't surprised Michonne won. They switched to cards, Michonne teaching him how to play gin rummy, and he'd had a good time doing that, too. Adrian came in with Jasper and Andy, put them on the floor and ragged Daryl about his son. Daryl ragged him back about his daughter, making Carl laugh. It made him sad, too. His dad had been friends with Daryl, now Daryl was friends with Adrian. "Do you think you'll ever be friends with my dad again?" he blurted out.

"On that note, I have something to check on," Adrian excused himself, taking a crying Andy with him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make him leave. He's funny."

Daryl sat back on the sofa. "He can be. Sometimes he's an ass." He paused. "Maybe, Carl. I ain't mad at him no more. I can kinda understand why he kicked me out. Like you said, we can't change it."

"Why weren't you at the last social? I know Rand was grounded," he changed the subject.

Michonne snickered. "Grounded?"

"It's what Sasha told me. Mark said she did something wrong and she was grounded."

"Yeah, she was grounded," Daryl choked out. "We had watch. All of us. Rand does it, too. We can't always go, Carl."

"We have a few people that don't go. Maria and her husband, Esteban. They've never been. They'll have to wait if they want to go now."

"It'll be a while. Gotta wait for it to warm up a little."

"A few months. We need to clean out the hotel, find the fencing, spikes, dig the trench," Michonne listed. "Before you know it, we'll have another one."

"Crazy Ass will send people. After we get done helping the Training Grounds move."

"We'll take it," Michonne accepted.

"What's for dinner?" Carl changed the subject again. He was hungry.

"Don't know. Tom runs that part of The Castle. Should be supper here soon, though."

* * *

Rick was waiting by the fence the next afternoon. It had been hard when Carl moved out. He'd survived it. Carl spent the night, away from him, and he was havin' a hard time. He knew he was probably being too dramatic about the situation. It was Daryl and Michonne. If he trusted anyone with his son it would be Daryl and Michonne.

They were in a stone castle. He bet the Governor couldn't have bombed that place.

"He'll be fine," Abraham said as he walked over to stand with him.

"If this was before? I probably wouldn't have worried so much."

"I know what you mean." He shrugged. "I don't know much about Daryl and Michonne, except she has ass for days and can use that katana she carries."

Rick choked. "What?"

Abraham rolled his eyes. "I checked her out. I'm a grown ass man with needs."

"You had Rosita. Now you have Sasha."

"I did and I do, but it doesn't mean I'm dead, Rick. You checked her out, too. Until you checked out in Alexandria. You trusted them. You still trust them or else you would have said no. It is a stone castle. This Rand woman seems to have her shit together. I never met your buddy Shane, but Glenn said this woman dropped him like a lead balloon, left, early in this when it was fucked eight ways from Sunday, and now she lives in a castle. You know all this but you let him go because you trust Daryl and Michonne."

"Yeah, I do."

"He'll be fine. He's got a good head on his shoulders."

Rick laughed. "That was the worst inspirational speech I've ever heard. Thank you."

"What are friends for?"

"Giving shit inspirational speeches?"

"My job here is done."

"I trust you, too, you know."

"I know. Same here."

He watched as Abraham went to the barn and he waited for his son. He did trust Daryl and Michonne but he trusted his people more. Even though Maggie and Glenn left Alexandria for Hilltop he still considered them his people. He…didn't consider Daryl and Michonne his people anymore. They were Rand's people. His people would have stayed, helped him out, even if had been kickin' his ass. Leaving like a thief stealing from the collection plate. Daryl didn't have the decency to tell him he was leaving to find Michonne. He probably wouldn't have listened and banished him anyway.

A lot of thangs happened. He was a changed man now from what he'd been like in Alexandria. Daryl wasn't his people but he'd been his friend, his brother. He hoped one day they could be friends again. They may not be brothers again, but that was okay. He was okay.

He smiled wide when the car showed up. Glenn opened the gate and let them inside. Daryl and him shook hands before they headed toward him. "One Carl Grimes, safe and sound." She waved her hand at Carl.

"Rick," Daryl greeted and held out his hand.

Rick shook it. "Thank you. Did you have a good time?" he asked his son as he gave him a hug.

"Dad, you would not believe that place!" Carl shouted and squeezed.

"Tells tall tales, Rick," Daryl deadpanned.

"I don't," Carl protested as he pulled away. "It was great. Thanks. It was fun."

"We had a good time," Michonne smiled and ruffled Carl's hair. He'd never seen her smile like that before. She was a striking looking woman with a nice ass. Not his type anymore. He was a grown ass man with needs and he wasn't dead. He could still look.

"We gotta go. Be good for your dad, Carl," Daryl joking admonished.

"I always am. Tell Rand I said thank you and I'll see if I can come down and help with the hotel."

"You need to talk to your dad, Carl." Michonne gave his son a look.

"Maybe we'll both come down," Rick mentioned.

"Need all the help we can get. Fuckin' walkers,' Daryl groaned.

"They're the worst part of the job," Michonne muttered.

"They are," he agreed. "Hope to see ya down there." With that, Daryl and Michonne got back in their car and waved to them and Glenn as they drove off.

"Had a good time?" he repeated his question.

"Dad!" his son sighed dramatically. "You would not believe that place."

Rick laughed. "Come on. You know you're going to be grilled by everyone."

Carl shrugged. "Worth it. Did you miss me?"

Rick hugged him again. "Of course. I always miss you. Let's put your stuff inside."

It was close to dinner time when they walked in the house and he felt like he needed a whip and a chair to keep everyone off of his son. Ash finally calmed everyone down in time for food to be served. She gave him and Carl a plate and Maggie said they could eat in her and Glenn's room. He heard lots of moaning and groaning as they headed down the stairs.

"Can I go back?" he asked between bites.

Rick laughed. "No, Carl, you can't go back. Not yet." They ate in silence for a bit. "So? What'd you do?"

This time Carl laughed. They'd long since finished dinner when Carl finally ran out of things to say about his night at The Castle.

"Sounds like you had a good time."

"I did," he repeated. "Uh, Daryl said he's not mad at you. Michonne either."

"That's good, Carl. I'm glad. If you want to go to bed, avoid the crowd upstairs, I'll take the plates."

"Thanks. They were intense. I'm not tired, but."

"I understand. It's a lot. I'll peek in on you."

Carl rolled his eyes. "Is it bad if I say they're worse than walkers?"

"Yes it is," he chuckled.

"Okay." Carl hugged him again outside of his door. "Thanks for letting me go."

* * *

Jesus and Sasha took the hacky sack Carl had brought back to Crazy Ass and headed outside. It was fucking cold but, as far as Sasha was concerned, she didn't care what The Castle did. They weren't there so why bother to ask? Jesus must have felt the same because he joined her when she asked for any takers.

"You don't care?" she asked as she kicked it back to him.

"Why? I was…dazzled by Alexandria. We had crappy ass trailers at Hilltop. I've been there, done that."

"It didn't matter," she responded as she missed.

"Nope, it didn't matter. They're gone." He caught the sack. "There'll be problems. A castle, a bunker, a hotel? No one's immune. Classes? Sounds good. I was dazzled by that. Classes won't stop the assholes and it won't stop the walkers. Standing together will stop the assholes and the walkers." He drop kicked it to her. "I know our mantra is you can't change the past."

Sasha snickered as she returned it.

"We can't. I wish I would have done more, though. Not let Gregory suck Negan's dick."

"Eww," she groaned.

He laughed. "Yeah, that's not a pretty picture. Here? Rand is banding us to stand together. If I'd found Alexandria sooner."

"You didn't. Stop thinking about it. We can't change the past," she repeated.

He kicked it back to her. "We've got a good streak going."

"Shit. You jinxed us," Sasha shouted she continued the streak.

He laughed and kicked again. "We can do it, Sasha."

They kept it going for a while. She called a halt a little later.

"If we keep this up, we'll be in front of the patrols," he commented.

"Yeah. No."

"It's my new goal," Jesus laughed as they took seats on the porch. A quick look inside and Sasha could see they were almost done. She felt bad for Carl. He just wanted to go see Michonne and Daryl.

"They're almost done."

"Good. I'm freezing my ass off out here."

"I like it here. I don't need a castle," she said.

"Me, either."

* * *

"I think we should organize a hacky sack tournament," Maggie broached with Ash.

"It seems to be popular," Ash hummed.

When Carl came back from The Castle Crazy Ass had descended on him like a herd of walkers. She felt bad for him. He looked so scared she wanted to laugh, really. She'd seen Carl kill walkers. He was a tough kid. The hours he spent answering questions the next day had been tough. It started her on wishin' they'd found Rand instead Aaron finding them again. She couldn't change. She had to live with it.

The Castle sounded magical to her. It was big, made of stone, they had animals, a real farm, good people, classes and organized games. It seemed like a little town. It sounded like before. The only drawback, to her, were no guns inside the walls. Carl had to check it in with Waya and he got it back when he left. They had electricity and they'd watched movies. He said he'd seen a board in the lobby called 'the calendar of events' and it listed all the things that were going on in The Castle.

The residents ate together, lunch and dinner. Breakfast was set up as a buffet. He'd had eggs and some kind of bacon. Crazy Ass was working on a trade for some beef or bacon. It didn't sound like they needed anything, they had it all.

She'd stewed about it until Glenn reminded her they had some of that stuff, too, and they could carry. That statement brought her down to earth. They did. Crazy Ass had some of that stuff. They didn't have classes or a real farm or pigs or cows, but they had a good place made of concrete. They had chickens and rabbits. They had gardens and did container gardening. It didn't seem that magical when it came down to it. It was a place that had stuff run by a smart person with good people.

She lived in a good place run by good people. She could get the other stuff, too.

* * *

Aaron and Sasha got out of their car and walked inside The Castle fences. Rand was standing with her 'knights' and the rest of the patrol. There seemed to be a lot of people. The Training Grounds was still sending someone, he saw a yellow armband. He raised his eyebrows when he saw a black armband. "Don, from Reid's group," was what they were told.

"He volunteered to do all the hunting," Linda reported to the group that was assembled. He couldn't believe Linda was doing a patrol.

"I don't know how," Sasha whispered to him. "I never had to learn," she added at his questioning expression.

"I'm not good, but maybe I can teach you," he whispered back.

"I may take you up on it."

Aaron kind of tuned out what Rand was saying and looked at the stone walls and brick walkway in the distance. A real castle. He'd like to tour. After what he'd heard from Carl, he'd really like to live there.

He was breathing heavily by the time they reached the first stop over. He'd laughed with the rest of Crazy Ass after listening to stories of the patrol. He thought Jesus was exaggerating. He wasn't. He couldn't believe Rand had never done one before and had still outstripped them. Don, his group needed a name, was dragging as well. The Castle people, Jamal and Ray, were leading this one, had intermingled with the other groups, keeping everyone together. Sasha gave him a 'we told you' look before she headed upstairs for her watch shift.

Aaron found a spot in the living room slightly away from the others. Linda came over as he was eating the small dinner of beef jerky and dried vegetables. "You know," Linda started off after she sat close by, "these people haul ass. I know my people have done these and they've said The Castle people haul ass. I guess I never put it together, the ground they cover with how fast they move. They've been doing this a long time." She leaned back against the living room wall. "They put these houses in place. She's done some incredible things in the two years I've dealt with them."

"I'm in awe of her, actually."

"Me, too. I want to be her when I grow up," she joked.

"Me, too."

"I think we'll be alright."

After they left Blue Mountain and were in the safe house for the night he commented on Sasha's ability to keep up.

"Me and Jesus started playing hacky sack."

"I've seen you out there," he noted.

She laughed. "Yeah, his new goal is to be in front of the patrol."

Aaron smiled. "That's a good goal."

"It is. I don't know if he'll do it, but we're giving it the old college try," she smirked.

* * *

Maggie stood behind Ash and Tony as Beth pushed and screamed. Jared was holding her hand and the looks on his face let her know she was crushing it. Abraham's idea of not using the watch room at night came in handy. Boiling the water on the stove was a lot better than boiling it on one of the barbeques they had.

"Thanks, Maggie," Tony acknowledged her as Ash kept telling her to push. Tony took a pair of scissors and poured peroxide over them.

"Go hold her other hand Maggie," Ash grunted out.

Maggie did as she was told. The woman was crushing her hand. She wondered if Sasha would want to be in her delivery room. Everyone was friendly enough with each other, they did have some exceptions, but Beth didn't have a friend she felt comfortable enough to ask to be in here with her, aside from Jared. Ash had asked for her to be here.

When she walked into the clinic she'd been surprised to see Tony inside. Ash told her he'd delivered a baby once, how cliché, when he'd been a patrol officer and he was the best choice to help her. She wanted another woman in with Beth and asked Maggie. She may not run The Crazy Ass Bunker, but she was a good advisor.

Hours later, Maggie'd forgotten how long it took for babies to be born, people were no different from cattle it seemed like, the cry of a newborn was heard.

"It's a boy," Ash told a smiling, crying Beth.

"We need to clean him up, Beth." Tony held up the bloody baby. "We'll give him back to you."

"Yeah," Ash grinned at the woman. "You've had him for nine months. Time to share."

Beth let out a watery laugh.

"Maggie, can you help me clean her up?" Ash asked.

Maggie patted Beth's hand and went to help. After she was done and Ash took the bloody bedding she headed to her room and pulled out her 'calendar of events'.

* * *

Abraham had a little frown on his face when he saw the large colorful calendar on the refrigerator. "Huh," he muttered as he stared at it.

"Hm," Jesus tilted his head and read. "'Baby Matt. Weight: Healthy. Length: Just right.' I like it."

"Different," he responded. "It's good."

"The Castle's not the only one that can do a calendar of events apparently."

"Apparently."


	11. Chapter 11

Rick found himself on one of the living room sofas the day of Matt's birth, everyone else had left, after the big event. It was nice to see a healthy baby being born. His thoughts turned to Judith and how much he missed her. The other side? Life still went on. Some of it was good and some of it was bad, but it still went on.

He was interrupted by Hannah joining him, holding out a drink. He smiled and thanked her. She sighed and leaned against the back of the couch, a glass of wine in her hand.

"This was good," she commented.

He sipped, he wasn't much of a wine drinker, and enjoyed the quiet. He knew when Matt went to Beth and Jared's apartment it wouldn't last.

"Yeah. It's nice to see."

"Another good thing? Soundproofing."

He laughed. "What?"

"Haven't you noticed you can't really hear anything down there?"

He copied her position on the sofa. "No. Not really."

"Hm." She sipped. "The only time you hear Maria and Esteban fighting is up here or outside. I guess crazy ass grandpa wanted his soldiers to get straight eight with no interruptions."

He laughed again and put his wine on the coffee table.

"Not a wine drinker?" She nodded at the table.

"Nah. I used to have a few beers now and again. Scotch, whiskey when we first got to Alexandria, then Negan took it."

She sipped again. "I can't imagine how you survived everything you and your group went through," she said with awe.

He leaned his head back. "Willpower and spite, I think." He shrugged. "I had Carl, Judith and my people. I had to."

Hannah lightly squeezed his arm.

He cleared his throat.

"Has Carl recovered from the sex ed lesson?" she laughingly asked.

Rick groaned. "Yes. I barely did."

She continued to laugh. "I can still see your face."

"Not my finest moment," he grumbled.

"I thought it was," she said after she stopped laughing. "You love your son. It was a good idea. I dread," she drew the word out, "having the same talk with Taylor." She shuddered a little, making him laugh.

"Not funny," Hannah rebuked.

"You laughed at me," he chuckled. "I can return the favor."

"There is that," she sighed, took another sip and put her glass next to his.

They sat quietly, occasionally making comments about Crazy Ass. She made a humorous remark about Jess and he turned his head, chuckling. She'd done the same. He leaned over, she leaned into his space and he kissed her, pushing her down on the sofa.

* * *

Rick felt like a bumbling seventeen year old virgin as he lay next to Hannah in his bed.

"Sorry," he muttered.

She sighed. "It's alright."

He turned on his side to see her. "It's been a while."

She chuckled. "Yeah. It has."

He'd come almost embarrassingly quickly and used his fingers to get her off. Not ideal. He'd never been smooth in bed, not compared to Shane's stories, but Lori had never complained. He grimaced.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah."

She turned on her side and pulled the sheet over her breasts. "Its okay, Rick," she tried to console him.

He huffed out a laugh. "No it's not, but thanks for trying to make me feel better."

"It was…not awful," she whispered.

"Right," he responded in an 'I don't believe you' tone.

"Maybe we could try again?"

His door flew open with a bang. He jumped out of bed, grabbing his machete. "Oh, shit," he muttered as he saw his son.

Carl's mouth dropped open and he ran out of the room.

Hannah pulled the covers over her head and laughed her ass off.

* * *

The Trail search was the most important thing going at the Castle right now. Rand had appropriated part of the dining room, which was littered with presentation easels, Michonne had no idea where Tom came up with them, maps and the literature Rand had brought back. She, Daryl, the Four and the volunteers were deep into the planning stages, including contingency plans. Rand didn't want anyone to die for this and Michonne could agree. Everyone did.

She smiled a little when another point was brought up to consider. Deanna Monroe, not that she was happy the woman was dead, didn't think to do this. Shortsighted on her part, which struck her as Deanna being naïve about the situation. The woman had been in Congress and the government seemed to thrive on the smallest detail being addressed, most of those in Congress had been lawyers after all, whether for a politician's personal gain or one of their backers.

Michonne recalled the conversations she'd had with Deanna, when she first arrived, and for the constable position. She'd sounded serious, she'd acted serious and she was serious regarding her plans for Alexandria. It's unfortunate she didn't consider any of the other people still out there beyond the walls, even though Aaron and Eric had been actively recruiting. Perhaps she'd spent so long in DC she failed to remember real life wasn't Ozzie and fucking Harriet.

Rand wanted the same thing Deanna had wanted, but was more practical in how to go about it and took into account how a group of dicks could show up and bite them in the ass. A few times Michonne had wondered what would have happened to her if she'd stayed. Nothing good, that's for sure.

After they put Jasper down for bed, she held out her hand to him. "Let's take a bath," she murmured.

Daryl smiled a little, took her hand and stood up. "Bubbles?"

She laughed softly. She and Daryl didn't take a lot of baths but when they did they used bubble bath.

"It wouldn't be a proper bath without them."

* * *

Daryl leaned against the back of the tub and 'Chonne between his legs. After the first time they did this he looked forward to when they did it, bubbles and all. He ran his hands slowly up and down her arms. He loved her.

"Why?" he asked.

"The meeting," she sighed contentedly as she laid her head on his chest, her hair tied up.

"The meetin'?" He was confused. He was there. They made plans, looked over maps and made a list of food and weapons the volunteers would take.

"I was remembering Deanna Monroe and her rose colored glasses."

He grunted a sound and waited.

"She. I was listening to Rand and the others. Deanna wanted this. Communities involved with each other. Civilized. Like before. Rand wants what Deanna wanted but she's not sitting around waiting, like Deanna did, in spite of her having Aaron and Eric recruiting for Alexandria. Rand's doing it. Without the glasses."

He hadn't talked to Deanna much. He got the feelin' she didn't like him, looked down on him, like the others. He hadn't given a shit. He hadn't liked them and their prissy ways anyway. 'Chonne was right. Rand wanted before and he didn't blame her. She had a good life before. She has a good life now, but not like before. He kinda felt sorry for her.

"I'm not sure why I started thinking of that place and those people," she continued. "I usually don't. I haven't in a long time anyway. It got me thinking what I would be like if I'd stayed. Dead? Possibly. I doubt it. Most of the group dead? Probably, from the little we got from Rick and Glenn. I wouldn't be with you. Then, I wanted to send the Crazy Ass Bunker a fruit basket."

He laughed. "A fruit basket?"

"For Rick."

"That's mean, 'Chonne," he choked on his laughter.

She shrugged. "Yes, it is. I'm not happy those people died. Judith. Carol. Tara. Rosita. Father Gabriel. They seemed, from the little we got from Rick and Glenn, like senseless deaths. We were lucky we found this place and Rand, like Deanna had been lucky when she was directed to Alexandria by the soldiers. We're fighting hard to keep it."

"Like them people didn't?"

"Right. Like they didn't."

Daryl kissed her neck and leaned his head back against the ledge of the tub. "Forgot the candles."

"We forgot the candles. Next time," she promised.

* * *

Carl tried to stay out of the house and away from his dad and Hannah. He would be scarred for life. Gross. Just gross seeing his dad and Hannah naked in bed. He shuddered. Since it was cold outside there wasn't anything to do in the garden so instead he headed for the barn. They had a few stools in there. It was kind of warm but stunk like horse crap. It was still better than trying to talk to his dad. He knew his dad would want to talk to him about it. Gross. He'd told Carl he liked and respected Hannah. If being with Hannah, that way, made his dad happy he'd be happy for his dad.

"Carl," his dad sighed. "I've been looking for you."

He didn't say anything. His dad sighed again and took a stool.

"Uh."

"I don't want to talk about it, Dad," he muttered.

"I don't either, really," he admitted. "I like Hannah."

"I know. You said," he responded as he stood up and paced. He stopped pacing when he heard his dad laugh.

"It's not funny, Dad," Carl said as he looked, not at his dad, but close.

"I guess you know to knock next time, Carl."

"Yep," he answered quickly. Anything to stop this conversation. "I'll knock next time."

"If I have a relationship with Hannah, will you be alright with it, Carl? Jessie Anderson," his dad grunted.

Carl shuddered again. "Don't. I do not want to know. If you're happy I'm happy for you, Dad. Really."

"She's not gonna take your mom's place."

Carl frowned and stared at his dad then. "I know. You loved mom. You like Hannah."

"I do. But if I start to love Hannah and we stay together, she still won't take your mom's place."

"You can do that?"

His dad laughed again. "Yes, Carl, you can learn to love someone."

"How does it work? Learning to love someone?"

"Well, Carl, if you spend enough time with someone and you have a lot in common, respect each other and can depend on each other, sometimes it can lead to loving each other."

"But not always?"

"No, son, not always."

"Huh." He didn't know what to say to that. "Okay."

"Let's go inside. It's cold out here."

"Is Hannah going to want to talk to me?"

"I don't know," his dad admitted. "Do you want her too?"

"NO!"

"Okay."

"I mean, she doesn't have to."

His dad ruffled his hair and Carl jerked away. "Okay, Carl."

* * *

Glenn tried not to laugh after Sasha and Aaron came back from patrol. Aaron admitted those people were something else. He'd done more thinking about the patrol and decided he wanted to do one, just to see if he could keep up. He was more of a 'get in get out' type of person but he was feeling challenged now.

He saw Aaron and Jesus in a corner of the living room after dinner, quietly talking. Jesus was laughing occasionally and Aaron would gesture with his hands. Something was going on with Rick and Carl. Carl acted like he had ants in his pants. Abraham and Sasha were nowhere to be seen and it didn't take a rocket scientist for him to know where they were. Good for them.

"You're going to do one, aren't you?" Maggie asked as she sat beside him on one of the sofas.

"I think I am."

She had a thoughtful look on her face. "I…think I want to do one, too."

"You don't have to, Maggie."

"Maybe. Maybe I'll go down and clear walkers from the hotel," she countered.

He made a face. "Gross, but you'll be with other people."

"So will you. If you want to do one, you should do one," she relented.

He leaned over and kissed her. "Thanks. I'll be careful."

"I know."

He went to talk to Tony and Ash.

* * *

Maggie watched, not paying attention, to Glenn, Tony and Ash. She didn't want to do a patrol. It would remind her of when they were on the road after the prison and losing Beth. Cleaning walkers out of the hotel? She could do that.

When the patrol stopped they didn't have anything on the hotel yet. When they did, she would need to get with Ash so she could put it on the calendar of events.

Jesus didn't try too hard not to laugh at Aaron. He'd told everyone that wasn't on watch about his time with the patrol and got laughs when he said he couldn't believe those people.

"We told you," Jesus smirked.

"You did. I believed you. Kind of. Sort of."

"Are you going to do another one?"

Aaron smiled. "I am. It was a good experience. I'm definitely getting in on the hacky sack."

"Sasha said it helped her."

"With her stamina, yeah. She wasn't at the back but she wasn't leading The Castle people."

"I'll get there," he promised. He didn't know if he was promising himself or Aaron. Himself, he decided.

"Linda, she's a nice lady, said she wanted to be Rand when she grew up. Me, too."

"I wish she would have been around our area."

Aaron gave him the look. The look that said they couldn't change anything. He shrugged. "And a few other wishes."

"She also said we'd be alright," he added.

"I think she's right."

"Calendar of events?" Aaron raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah," he laughed.

* * *

Daryl stood with 'Chonne, the Four and everyone else not on watch to see the volunteers off. Rand was fidgety. It was makin' him fidgety. What they were doin' could be dangerous, he knew, hell, everyone knew, but it would be worth it one way or another. They'd either find another community or not. Or die.

He hoped they found another community. Crazy Lenny had left a bad taste in everyone's mouth and reminded them all kindsa people made it. Him and 'Chonne _were_ lucky they found this place and Rand. After their bath they had gone to bed, but Daryl couldn't fall asleep. He kept thinkin' about what 'Chonne said. Most of them dead, like they were. Not most, but some of his core group. He might have been dead. Probably not. Him and 'Chonne were alike like that. Not to say that time wouldn't come, 'cause it did for everybody. They had a better chance here than back there.

Once the car was out of sight everyone went back to doing what they'd been doing. It felt kinda sad for a minute. He didn't like Jonathan Wilmer, no one did, but he didn't want the guy to die. Probably.

'Chonne kissed him before going back to the greenhouse. Jasper was with Andy and Helen in the solar. Helen was tryin' 'Montessori' ways of teachin' them. To him it looked like they played with blocks. She admitted she'd never taught that way, but with their ages and no head start or kindergarten it was better than nothin'. Michonne liked it because he was getting structure. They'd been tryin' to keep a schedule for bedtime and eating. So far, Jasper was doin' good. He missed the time they used to spend together, but the Castle had other shit goin' on.

He laughed to himself later as he and Jasper enjoyed blues night. It was winter. The Castle didn't have that much shit goin' on.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for staying with this story.**


	12. Chapter 12

It took him awhile but he finally figured out Rick was with Hannah.

"Dipping your wick?" Abraham questioned Rick as they were in the barn rubbing down the horses. It had been their turn to take them outside the fences.

"What?" Rick looked over at him with a shocked expression.

"You and Hannah?" he answered like Rick was a dumbass.

"Yeah. Me and Hannah."

"Good call."

"Thank you, Abraham," Rick drawled sarcastically. "You don't know what that means to me."

"What are friends for?"

The man chuckled and shook his head. "I like her."

"I hope so."

Abraham wasn't too impressed with the woman himself. She could kill walkers. She was raising Taylor. She was an okay cook. He wouldn't trust her to have his back in a tense situation, like Sash or Maggie, but he wasn't fucking her.

It was good for Rick. He deserved to be as happy as he could be.

Abraham was surprised no one at Crazy Ass knew. When they'd been in Alexandria those people gossiped. They did here, too, but Rick must have learned his lesson with Jessie Anderson. That had been like covering a naked man in honey and putting him on an ant hill. He didn't know much about Hannah and she'd lived here longer, so she obviously didn't want her relationship with Rick to be the subject of gossip, either.

* * *

Rick wasn't ashamed of his developing relationship with Hannah. He wasn't trying to keep it a secret. He did appreciate they didn't get a lot of grief about it at first. As the weeks went on, they got joking remarks. Carl just buried his head and ignored it. He tried to treat Hannah the same, which he appreciated, but he could tell it was hard. He'd seen his teacher in his dad's room. In his dad's bed. Rick would have acted the same way. His teachers never looked like Hannah, though. Hannah wasn't supermodel material, but she wasn't disgusting. She was a nice woman. Rick didn't think he'd fall in love with Hannah but he could see himself being…comfortable with her.

They didn't do much. It wasn't like they could date these days. They sat together at dinner. Sometimes, if neither one had night watch, they'd sit in the living room and talk. Mostly about Crazy Ass, The Castle and the other communities. By unspoken agreement they didn't talk about their pasts.

The sex did get better. At least he wasn't some bumbling seventeen year old virgin again. After a few times. He was a man in his early forties with more aches and pains he should have for his age. She slept in his room on occasion, but couldn't all the time because of Taylor. He never stayed in her room because of Taylor. All in all it was the best relationship he could think to have in this situation. Maybe, one day, they'd move in together.

* * *

Daryl passed Seth on the walkway for watch. He and Michonne and Rand were talking about cutting down on it. The monitors made it easier, he thought. Everyone else thought so, too. This area didn't see a lot of action. The Trail search crew was due in another two months and hopefully they'd have news. He sure as hell hoped they had good news.

"You with me?" Seth asked him as they met in the middle of the bridge.

"Yeah."

Seth gave him the 'I don't believe you' look he sometimes got when Adrian said something stupid.

"Hope this works out."

He leaned against the ledge and Daryl mimicked the action. "You and me both. I love it here. I mean, it's better than being out there, but I'd like to see some new faces."

Daryl didn't want to ask if he was havin' problems with Rand. "Huh," he grunted.

"The socials are alright. It'd be nice if we could find other communities."

"Yeah."

"Spread out more."

"Like take over Bridgewater?"

He shook his head. "No. But if there are only so many people in this area, Daryl, Andy, Jasper, Tsula, Mark and Jenny? Their kids will all be inbred after a few generations. I'd like my daughter's grandkids to have all their eyeballs look normal."

He laughed. "Fuck you, man. Are you makin' fun of me?"

"No, man, I'm not," he chuckled. "Seriously," he said when he stopped laughing. "I don't want to have worked this hard, and we have worked hard, to have our great, great, great grandchildren having nothing to show for it."

"Hell, I'm still stuck on Jasper getting with someone and havin' kids. I hope it don't happen for a long, long, long time."

"It'll be here before you know it. Jasper's already one. Andy's coming up on it."

"Your daughter better treat my son right," he warned jokingly.

Seth shrugged a shoulder. "Andy may turn out to be gay and having great, great, great grandkids may be a moot point. Or Jasper may be gay and we won't have to worry about Adrian meeting you with pistols at dawn."

Daryl laughed again. He didn't care if Jasper was gay or not. Aaron seemed alright. All he wanted was for his son to live a good, long life. Grandkids, his blood or not, were grandkids. And wouldn't his ol' man and Merle be turning over if his son was gay? Hell, the asshole was probably turning over 'cause 'Chonne was black. He didn't think Merle would mind it. He respected Michonne. It's why he let her go. He missed his brother sometimes.

"We're gonna cut down on watch." Daryl was going to tell Rand the next time he saw her. This was a waste of time. They had radios, monitors and someone on the battlements all the time.

"Rand said she was going to discuss it with you and Michonne. It's a good idea. With us being four people down we're starting to drag a little. We should probably cut down on how many we send for patrol."

"After we hit six she said. Make sure the other communities was serious."

"Good."

He chewed on his fingernail. "You think those other communities could move here?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "We have been talking about it. Only because Rand won't shut up about how they're fucking with eyes in more places. Strategically? It's smart. We figured, what, one hundred and thirty plus people, including kids, with all of the communities together. We haven't had a lot of problems, and Reid's not chatty, but you can tell they had some real bad days, and not just with walkers."

"Been there. We had our own bad days and not just with walkers. Hell, me and 'Chonne lost a prison to a crazy fuck that found a tank."

"Right. I remember. Also, logistically, it would be a nightmare. They'd have to section off a portion of Bridgewater and secure it. Who would run it? They'd have to set up for animals. Linda and her people are working on building a barn for their horses. They have chickens. I think they're just letting them run around inside the fences out front right now. Why?"

He twitched. "The Training Grounds movin' in with the Lucky Bitches. Makes sense, really. Linda and Reid together have forty some people. We're close. Just sayin' those other places might think it's worthwhile."

"Rand would have a shit fit," Seth observed.

He chuckled. "Yeah, she would. Me and 'Chonne's been talkin' about it, too. Anyway, we went to Bridgewater the other day to look at it again."

Seth raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. Advisors gotta know what to advise," he retorted.

"True."

"There's a couple of neighborhoods that could be walled off."

"Where?"

"One is down by that electronics store. We don't get a lot of traffic through here, Seth. Walkers ain't really a problem. I'm just sayin' those other places, they could look to, see what we see."

"Hm."

"With the Training Grounds not bein' close, the Crazy Ass Bunker, don't give a shit if it's a bunker or not, they kinda got used to bein' around more people."

"They didn't know."

"They do now," he cut Seth off. "The market was a good idea. The socials? Good idea, but it might backfire on us."

"Yeah," he said.

"Rick. He might move here even without the others. He's got eight people in his group. We had about that many in the prison before I started bringin' people in. The Training Grounds and Lucky Bitches is right there. We're right here. Of course we'd help 'em because we'd be helpin' ourselves right along with them. He might even ask to move in the hotel. Can't see him tryin' to make somethin' from scratch. He never did before. The others? Robert? He ain't stupid. Neither is Juan. They made their places. They could do it again."

"Yeah," he repeated.

"I hope they don't. I really hope they don't 'cause I agree with Rand about eyes. If I was one of those people? Found a community that seemed to have their shit together, after Alexandria and the people we found when we was recruitin'? I'd do it. Those people we recruited _did_ do it."

"You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?"

"Yeah. Carl comin' to visit and Linda movin'."

"Maybe Blue Mountain and the Fort combining," Seth murmured.

"We thought about that, too. They're close together. Robert's got around forty people. Not that many at Blue Mountain. They move in together and they got sixty or so. They seem set up. You told us the Fort had someone attack them. It ain't happened again but Lenny was close to them. They could get spooked like Linda."

"We've all been living in our own dream world," he mused out loud.

Daryl scoffed. "We haven't. We been out there. We haven't seen much; good, I like it that way. The others may have. Sure, they kill walkers, they gotta."

"It's not just that," Seth cut him off. "They got used to socializing with each other."

"Yeah. I don't like goin' to those things. I'll do it. 'Chonne liked it. Socializin' with those other places. After the first one, anyway. We do a lot in here. Shit I never did before. The patrol talks to each other."

"They might feel comfortable enough to move closer together. To make a small town or something. Strength in numbers and society somewhat close to what most of us were used to. We see it, too. Rand sees it. Someone else is thinking the same thing we are. I don't think any one of us would be surprised if we did find a small town like place." He paused for a minute while Daryl considered the results of what they were talking about actually happening. "On a lighter note, Adrian and I were discussing a patrol with you, Michonne, Rand, Waya and us," Seth changed the subject.

"You serious?"

He smiled. "We are. We haven't done a base run in a while and Rand didn't go with us. The kids are getting older and so are we. We don't do anything without the kids, then Rand went off being an ass. We thought it would be a nice outing."

Daryl let out a laugh. "A nice outing? Yeah. Sure. Why the fuck not."

"The Castle has handled the patrols long enough. We, Adrian and I, feel we need to do more."

He agreed. 'Chonne had been pregnant so they'd waited to start patrol again until Jasper was a year old. Maybe the Four, him and 'Chonne could take a few months.

"A nice outing."

* * *

Sasha was down at the rabbit pen when Maggie showed up with her list. She smiled at her as she finished feeding the little shits. She hated rabbit. She still liked chicken. Maybe she'd have Aaron teach her to hunt. She could go and catch a deer. Maybe. After a long time. At times like this she did miss Daryl.

No one here was the hunter he was. Maybe she and Rick could go looking for some wild pigs like they had at the prison. The flu, well, she survived it once, her and Glenn. Ash was an EMT, they had medicine and Blue Mountain had a doctor.

"Sasha?" Maggie was touching her arm.

"I'm sorry, Maggie. What?"

"Are you okay? I've been calling your name."

"Fine. I was thinking whether we could go find some pigs."

Maggie sighed longingly. "That would nice. I miss bacon."

"Me, too."

"I'll talk to Tony and Ash about a shopping trip."

"That'd be nice." Sasha frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Since Glenn decided to do a patrol you've been a little…" she trailed off.

With a huff, Maggie sat down on the ground and Sasha took a seat beside her.

"I'm not happy he wants to do one. I'm scared. I almost lost him. More than once. The last time…"

She could understand. After the shit with the lineup, damn Negan and his fucking theatrics, the gun battle. They hadn't won, but they hadn't been beaten too badly. They'd lost people. Negan, the prick, lost people too and she wasn't sorry.

"Those people book, Maggie. They can kill walkers."

"Right. I hear. I'm worried about people."

She could relate. "The Castle people. I think they know what they're doing. They've been doing this." She put her head back and sighed. "Since we were in Alexandria. What did Tony say? They've lost one person to walkers but no one to people."

"It doesn't seem to be crawling with people, Sasha," Maggie pouted.

"It's a good thing, right?"

"Maybe they haven't found us yet," she said in a low voice.

"It won't be like before, Maggie. We may not have as many people as the Saviors, but we have some tough people here. And we have backup. I think if there was a group like the Saviors around here Rand would have found them by now. We're not exactly low key when we do patrol."

"I guess," she muttered.

"He'll be fine."

* * *

Two patrols later, Glenn let out a breath to psych himself up for this. Tony and Ash had been happy he decided to do one. They both had wanted to get more people doing this. Abraham was accompanying him this time. Tony had done another with Brick and Ash had done one with Keaton. After six or so patrols and no fatalities he felt Maggie would be comfortable enough with his doing one. He kissed her good bye and got in the driver's seat.

Abraham grinned evilly. "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

They arrived at The Castle to see Rand, surrounded by her 'knights' and armbands from the Fort, Blue Mountain, the Training Grounds and Reid's group. Glenn knew some of these people by sight; Brock from the Training Grounds, but not their names. He and Maggie had mingled at the last two socials, so it was a lot more relaxed when they started off.

At Staunton he was done. He'd spent most of the last month playing hacky sack with Jesus, Sasha, Aaron and Lisa to build up his stamina and it didn't seem to have worked. He was still at the back of the pack with a few people from The Castle and Abraham in the middle. Glenn liked how The Castle made sure they all stayed together.

"It's not enough," he muttered to himself.

"What?" Martin from The Castle asked.

"Uh, nothing. You guys are really good at this."

"We've been doing it for a long time, Glenn. It's Glenn, right?"

"Yeah."

The man laughed quietly. "It takes some getting used to. When we first started we were dragging ass, too."

"Good to know."

He did drag ass the entire time he was out there. It was nice to get out and see the area they were covering. They stopped in at all the communities, passed messages and chatted. It was good. He felt, now more than ever, the communities would watch out for each other. A group like the Saviors would have a much harder time here. He was going to recommend to Maggie she try one. He knew she was worried about him being gone.

They'd been separated before. The one time Maggie thought he'd died with Nicholas had been bad and had made her nervous. Negan had made it worse. The lineup. When they moved to Hilltop and their fight with Gregory where he was almost killed. After they'd settled in, he'd go with Jesus on runs. The gunfight had been the worst. He understood why she didn't want him to do this. They were in a safe place now and she didn't want to push it.

This was good and she needed to do one. It would be better if they could do it together, but Tony and Ash said no couples. Maybe they could try and change it. When they reached Crazy Ass he ignored the smirks from Tony, Ash, Jesus, Sasha and Aaron. Lisa and Andrew were on the fences but he knew he'd hear from them when he got home. Brick and Keaton, the most recent patrol volunteers, probably wouldn't give him a hard time. He hoped. On the way back to The Castle he decided to do another one. He needed to play more hacky sack.

He took the ribbing he got from everyone with good grace while Abraham laughed his ass off.

* * *

Michonne stood next to the empty car Dominic, Tammy, Tab and Jonathan Wilmer had taken when they left the Castle three months ago. Adrian and Seth were going through it while she, Daryl, Rand and Waya waited. It didn't take long.

"Everything's here. The gas, the few guns, the ammo and some of the food," Adrian said as they looked up from the trunk of the Toyota.

"Shit," Rand hissed and looked around.

"Don't even think of going to find them, Rand," Waya informed her.

"We got the car, Rand. We got the food. Tom, Helen and Bradford can handle it for a few days," Daryl suggested.

"They may have lost track of time, Rand. There were a few towns in this area, spread out. It's mountainous and has a lot of trees. Maybe one of them sprained their ankle or something," she continued.

Rand didn't look like she cared what anyone said at this point.

"Wandering around, with no idea where to start looking, is dangerous," Seth told her.

"He's right, Rand. We wouldn't have the first clue where to start looking. We don't know what the weather here is like. The tracks may not be viable. There could be more game or walkers than we suspect," Adrian added his two cents.

She let out a little scream. Michonne could understand. She didn't think the others lost track of time. Rand didn't either. No one did. If the walkers didn't get them, they had a hiking accident or they found a not very nice group. They weren't coming back.

"I guess we can rule out anything between the Castle and Lexington," Waya observed.

"I guess we can," Rank acknowledged. "I don't think I thought this out well."

Michonne saw Daryl roll his eyes. "We planned this shit to the ground, Rand. We knew this could be dangerous. They knew. Give it a couple of days. We'll leave the car, the gas and the food. We'll take the guns and ammo and head back," he said.

She saw Rand close her eyes briefly. "Okay."

"These types of incidents were common in the old world, Rand. I had to do my share of finding hikers lost in the woods. Sometimes it didn't end well and sometimes it did," Waya tried to console her.

"Yeah. I know. Still. Four people."

"We're not search and rescue," Seth reminded her.

"This count as our nice outing?" Daryl asked Seth.

"Not what we had in mind, but this works," he replied.

Michonne snorted at that. When Daryl told her what Seth had suggested she'd been all for it. They, her and Rand, really hadn't left the Castle since they found out they were pregnant and the kids were about a year old. The patrol, she admitted, was kind of fun. Except for Crazy Lenny.

"You know, Seth, the last time all of us did anything together like this was Assateague Island," she said.

Rand laughed a little at this. "I was thinking the same thing. So, let's figure out a schedule."

"Oh, what fun. Sleeping in a car," Waya deadpanned.

"You know what would be good? If we found some turkeys," Adrian mused.

"Real turkey," Seth groaned.

"With that, Seth and I will take a look around. Who knows? Maybe we will find some more animals. There were farms around here. I can imagine some of the stock got free."

Michonne watched them disappear into the woods. Waya opened a car door and sat in the passenger seat. "Shall we play a game?"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to those still reading.**


	13. Chapter 13

Daryl shook his head.

"How very 'War Games' of you," Rand snorted.

"What?"

"It's a line from an old movie. Before computers were as big as they were. A computer had been designed to hold the nuclear launch codes and plans, I think. It's been a while since I've seen it. Anyway, a kid hacked it. Of course, anything that could go wrong, did. This kid had to play the computer to stop a nuclear strike," Waya explained.

"I remember that. Vaguely," 'Chonne added as she pulled open the door to the backseat and sat.

He leaned against the driver's side of the car. "How'd you end up in the Atlanta camp?" he finally asked. No one had mentioned her when him and Merle showed up.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

It was her standard question and he shot her a look.

She took a deep breath and let it out. "I was in the area."

'Chonne laughed a little. "Very illuminating, Rand," she drawled.

"No one said anything about you when me and my brother showed up," he continued.

"I wasn't there long. I didn't really interact with anyone but Dale Horvath. He's the only one, aside from Deputy Walsh, I remember clearly. Man, that guy liked to talk. I considered strangling him in his sleep."

"That was Dale, alright," he agreed. Dale did like to talk.

* * *

"Congratulations," Maggie jumped up and hugged Jess. The woman returned the hug, kinda.

"Thank you, Maggie," she returned.

"Baby shower?" Maggie grinned.

"Maybe. I'll need maternity clothes. Beth's won't fit."

"Maybe we can get some toys," Beth suggested as she held the sleeping Matt. "Matt? He'll be crawling before you know it and we don't really have any baby toys."

"No noisemakers," Brick requested.

Jared laughed. "Why the hell not? Some of those were pretty cool."

"In your room, please," Brick entreated. "I can picture some noisy toy being kicked around when I'm up here just kicking back."

"Maggie and I'll plan what we need for a shopping trip for you, Jess. We'll need your size. Preferences?" Ash waved her hand in a 'so-so' motion. "We'll try."

"Thank you."

Maggie was smiling as she put the newest 'event' on the calendar. She stepped back and admired it. It wasn't much but it was something. She had a list at Hilltop for her and Glenn and Jesus, but it hadn't been this colorful. They'd been in bad situations; Negan the asshole, Gregory the asshole, having that much color would have felt like a mockery of the dangerousness of everything.

"'T & J baby announcement'?" Glenn asked.

She turned, smile still on her face. "Yes."

He walked over and put his arm around her waist. "Huh."

"It's not much, but it's ours."

"Everyone looks at it."

"They do. Tony and Ash are even starting to use it. He put the patrol on here. See?" She pointed out.

"Yeah."

Maggie wasn't surprised to see 'baby shopping trip' on the calendar in two days when she looked at it the next morning. She, Ash and Jess sat together making a shopping list for Jess. Even though this run was for baby things Ash decided Glenn and whoever he took could look around for some different games, outdoor games since it was getting warmer outside.

"He won't spend a lot of time on it, Maggie, but something. Hacky sack seems to be popular. Maybe Frisbees or something."

"Well, a few of us liked the badminton idea. We could set it up near the front of the house. There's some room there and the little plastic net thing you hit won't break the windows."

Ash nodded. "Good place. In the winter we can store the equipment in the gym."

They spent breakfast going over the list again before Ash went to her room to sleep. She respected Ash and Tony for still doing watch at night. When she was runnin' Hilltop she didn't do watch at all. There was so much stuff she and Glenn had to do during the day she was too tired to do it. She didn't know if Rick did watch after her and Glenn left. He hadn't done it when she was there, the other Alexandrians had done it. To be fair, Maggie thought, he'd had Carl and Judith then he'd just had Carl. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

* * *

Abraham was in the back seat of one of the minivans from Crazy Ass with Sasha. The shopping trip for baby things for Jess wasn't exactly his idea of fun. It wasn't painful, he'd dealt with the death of his family, but it was nostalgic, in a way. When Ellen had been pregnant the first time he'd been with her to pick out a crib, which was on the list Maggie had clutched in her hand. The clothes and bottles and clothes and bibs and clothes and diaper bags and clothes he hadn't had too much to do with. He hadn't been there most of the time.

Jess probably wouldn't need a diaper bag. Beth didn't have one. It's not like they went anywhere. The socials had been put on hold until The Castle finished the hotel. He knew Aaron and Jesus had volunteered to clean out walkers with Lisa and Hannah next week.

He wanted to get out with Sasha and for something other than patrol. He rolled his eyes internally. He was getting sappy and spoiled in his old age. He'd mellowed in the year or so they'd been at Crazy Ass. He'd never thought about the future before. He figured he'd do his twenty and get out, but never farther than that. Maybe hang out with his army buddies, football games, drinking and going on real 'vacations' with Ellen. Which would have boiled down to going where Ellen wanted to go. Spending time with his son and daughter and eventual grandkids. Those thoughts had no basis in reality anymore, so getting out with Sash for a baby run was as good as it was going to get these days. One day, he hoped this group would be doing the same thing for him and Sash, but nothing was guaranteed.

The stores in Edinburg, not many, had most of what Jess would need for a baby. They found a crib in the department store with clothes, for her and the baby. Maggie picked up everything. He guessed the run for Beth was for what was needed right then. He smirked when Sasha found a cart and told Maggie to take it all. 'If not for Jess then, you know, maybe for you and Glenn.'

"Make sure you get noisy toys," he requested. Glenn tried not to laugh too hard. He was going to love it. It used to make Ellen crazy sometimes. His son had liked them. Brick could find somewhere else to kick back.

He and Sasha killed the walkers that had taken an interest as Glenn and Maggie packed everything into the minivan.

"We probably should have brought two," Glenn remarked. "No room for the badminton set."

"Yeah," Maggie said with a frown.

"We can hold it, you know," Sash commented.

"Make it fast," Abraham commented. "We've got more walkers on the way." He pointed to a group of about fifteen coming down the street. It wasn't that many. They could take them with no problems and most of them looked like a strong wind would knock them over, literally.

Sasha headed over and started killing them. Abraham kept his eye on Sash to make sure she wasn't overwhelmed and the surrounding area to make sure Glenn and Maggie made it out okay. Ten minutes later they came out, fast, and headed for the minivan. Sasha killed the last two and when she made it close he got in the van the same time she did.

"It wasn't far." Maggie smiled as she turned in the passenger seat and handed over the box.

Sasha took it with a head shake. "At least the walkers aren't bad around here."

"I know," Glenn agreed as he headed for the highway.

* * *

Glenn knew something was wrong when he pulled up to Crazy Ass. Rick was directing everyone to do something and that's when he saw smoke and flames coming from the house.

"Shit," Maggie yelled.

He brought the van to a stop and they all jumped out. Lisa let them in and shut the gate behind them.

"What the hell happened?" Sasha shouted.

Glenn didn't bother to listen to the answer as he ran over Rick.

"Glenn, I need you and the others to join the line," Rick ordered. Glenn looked and saw the others in a line passing buckets to each other.

"Get in line, Glenn." Rick handed him a bucket.

"We're out of water," Glenn heard someone yell later.

"Go around to the other places," Rick yelled back before the house blew up and knocked him on his ass.

* * *

Maggie found Glenn as soon as the house blew up. She ran over to check on him, crying. He groaned and she helped him sit up.

"Let him lay down, Maggie," Rick told her as she looked into his soot covered face. "He could have concussion."

"What the hell happened?" she heard Sasha yell again. She hadn't paid attention to what Lisa said before she'd run behind Glenn and jumped in the line for water.

"I don't know," Rick admitted in a low voice. "Carl and I were out here, we heard yelling and the house was on fire."

"What are we going to do, Rick?" Abraham asked heatedly.

He took a deep breath and let it out. "We're going to The Training Grounds."

"Not The Castle?" Keaton shouted.

"No. Not The Castle."

He made sure Carl was okay before checking on the others. He did a quick check and it looked like he was missing eleven people, including Tony, Ash, Hannah and Taylor. He knew Tony and Ash had been down in the watch room. Hannah had held lessons for the kids in her room and that's where they'd been. He looked at the house one last time and the fire was still going. It had been a good place for him and his people. Maybe they'd rebuild.

* * *

Sasha refused to look as the three minivans, two of them towing horse trailers with the horses, left Crazy Ass. It wasn't like the last time she'd had to leave a smoking ruin of a home but it wasn't any easier. Well, it was somewhat. The walkers that had been attracted to the fire were easily killed by Lisa and Andrew as the rest of them tried to put the fire out.

"You okay?" Abraham whispered.

She leaned her head back and sighed. "Yeah."

* * *

"Shit," Aaron cursed as he watched the smoking ruins of Crazy Ass as they left. Jesus nudged him.

"We can rebuild," he stated.

He watched Rick as the man drove. He looked sad and Aaron couldn't blame him. Crazy Ass had been a good home for them for over a year, almost two. He didn't seem to be breaking down or going off the rails, but Aaron would watch him for a while.

* * *

When Rick reached The Training Grounds, following Glenn's directions, he came to a stop outside a gate. He got out and looked at the chain and the lock on it. He headed back to the minivan.

"We need to cut this chain. Do we have any bolt cutters in here?"

Aaron checked and someone, Dave he thought, pulled some from the back. He cut the chain off and got back behind the wheel, putting the chain on the floor before pulling up the road. Someone, he knew, would close the gate after the last minivan had driven through.

The place looked big from the outside. He headed up to the front door and turned the knob. "Shit," he hissed when he found it locked. Bracing himself, he kicked the door in and went inside. He wasn't surprised when he turned and saw Sasha, Abraham and Jesus were right behind him.

"Aaron's shutting the gate," Jesus reported.

"This place is probably clear, but let's check it out anyway," he decided. They split up and met back in the lobby, he could tell it was a lobby, ten minutes later.

"Okay. This place is clear. Let's get everyone inside. Jesus, try and find the water. We'll want to clean up some. I hope Linda left some thangs behind," he said. "Take Aaron with you. Abraham and Sasha, can you head down the road and tie the chain up until we can get another one and a new lock."

"Sure," Sasha responded before they left. Jesus nodded once and followed them out the door. He sighed with fatigue then headed back out to the minivans. He saw his people getting out.

"Alright. This place is clear. I need you, Keaton and take Carl with you, and find the stables. We need to get the horses unloaded. Make sure, Carl, you feed them."

"Okay, Dad."

"Sure thing, Rick," Keaton replied.

Rick watched as his son and Keaton left. "Andrew, I need you and Lisa to see if you can find the chicken coop. We need to get them out of the vans as soon as possible. Put some food out," he directed. "Jesus and Aaron are finding the water."

Lisa placed her hand on Andrew's arm, nodded once, before they both left.

"I need you, Angela and Tracy, to find a place for the rabbits right now. Just pull some grass and put it in their cages. We'll deal with it tomorrow."

He got a chorus of 'Okay, Rick' before they left, too.

"The rest of us; we can stay here. Spread out. Jesus and Aaron will find water and we should be able to heat it up for baths. Not what we're used to, I know. We have to deal with it." He'd been used to it once upon a time.

"What are we going to do?" was drowned out by "What about the others?"

He held up his hands to get everyone to quiet down. "Right now, we're going to rest. I'll, uh, come around and have people start watch. The others?" He bowed his head. "I don't think they made it." He waited until the rest of his people quieted down again. "If they had," he pointed out, "they would have been with us. It doesn't mean we're not going try and find them. We will. We can't go off without a plan. If they are alive, they'll head here. Tony and Ash were on the patrols. They may go to the cabins set up for them and we'll check them tomorrow. Right now, we need to get cleaned up, get the animals situated and get a watch started."

He watched as the rest of the Crazy Ass Bunker headed inside, with the exception of Maggie and Glenn. He waited until Carl and Keaton came back. He sent Keaton inside with the others. Not long after Sasha, Abraham, Aaron and Jesus came back.

"Are you taking over?" Abraham asked.

"I am. Any problems?" he asked and watched Maggie. She'd run a place. She might.

"Nope," he answered.

Sasha and Glenn shook their heads. He knew Carl wouldn't have a problem.

"No, Rick," Jesus replied.

Aaron sighed. "No."

"Alright. Let's get some water heated up for everyone. Did they leave anythang?"

"A few buckets."

"I found some pans in the kitchen," Sasha offered.

"Jesus, if you and Aaron could start on that. Ask anyone for help," he directed and waited until they left, leaving him with Maggie and Glenn while Carl waited in the background.

"Maggie?"

She frowned.

"Glenn?" Rick nodded his head toward the door. "Carl. You, too."

After he heard the sound of the door close he faced Maggie. "It's hard, isn't it?"

* * *

Maggie knew what Rick was asking. "Yeah."

"I had a hard time, too, with Tony and Ash running everythang after a while," he admitted.

She shifted on her feet. She had, too.

"One thang I noticed about the communities around here is they aren't run by just one person."

She scoffed. "They are."

"No they're not."

"Rand runs The Castle."

"She has advisors," Rick countered.

"Robert runs The Fort," she retorted.

"He has Pauline. Juan has Miguel and Linda has Brock and Marcy. I had Aaron's opinion when I was running Alexandria, but I didn't always listen to him. Did you always listen to Glenn?"

"No. I made the decisions."

"Me, too. King Ezekiel did the same. I'm sure Carol offered her opinions but he made the decisions. I think you and I should run Crazy Ass. The people here are used to it. We got used to it." He closed his eyes for a minute. "I asked Tony about the first meeting he had. When we got together it was the three of us. Me, you and King Ezekiel. When the leaders of the communities met the first time, when they introduced themselves, they included their right hands or lieutenants or advisors. Tony and Ash had each other. At the first social Rand introduced her 'knights' and her advisors. I didn't pay attention to the others."

"Daryl and Michonne," she interjected. "Me either."

"Right. We were in shock at seeing them. When Rand calls an emergency meeting the leaders go, sure, but the lieutenants go, the advisors are there or the right hands."

She took a deep breath and let it out. What Rick said was true.

"Plus, when thangs go bad, Maggie, I check out. Or I did. I have since this started. It never stopped until the prison. After the prison. You know. It was one thang after another. When were at peace, after Deanna, I didn't do bad. Even you, after you took over Hilltop, had problems and not just because of the Saviors."

She hated to admit Rick was right. Some of the Hilltop residents resented her and Glenn. Gregory's lackey's she'd secretly called them. Maybe some of them were. Maybe some of them weren't.

"We run it together?" Maggie verified.

"Together. We'll get everyone situated here, start a watch, with the few guns we have. You and I are going to The Castle tomorrow and ask for some help. We'll also ask Rand to go to with us to Crazy Ass before the meeting she's sure to call."

"Why?" She frowned.

"Those other leaders? They respect her. They should. She's done a lot for this area."

"She did. She does," Maggie admitted. "Glenn. It's why he did a patrol. He didn't expect her to do one. She 'inspired' him."

"Whether it's here or we rebuild her word will carry a lot of weight with the others. They'll be more inclined to help if Rand says we need it."

* * *

Rick knew it would be hard for both of them. They naturally wanted to take the lead. Living at Crazy Ass had been hard after a while. He'd wanted to be in on the meetings because what was decided would affect him, Carl and his people. It had settled him when he gave a suggestion and Tony liked it.

"It'll be hard, Maggie."

"We can do it," she said. Rick thought it was directed more to herself than to him.

"We can."

"I'll find out who has guns and how much ammunition, get a watch going," she said.

"Good. I think Glenn should stay down the rest of the day and tomorrow," he recommended. "We can start runs, we'll need him; he's done the most out of all of us, after we get back from The Castle. In the meantime, after we've cleaned up, we'll start looking around, see what Linda left. I'm sure she left somethang if she offered this place to Tony and Ash as a backup place."

"You think?"

He shrugged. "I think so. If we had to fall back here it wouldn't be like we could carry anythang as we left."

"True. I guess I never really thought about it."

He laughed. "I'm not laughing at you, Maggie," he explained at the upset look on her face. "I thought about it after we found out. If we were attacked we wouldn't be worried about anythang other than getting here. I don't think we'll find a lot, no food for sure, but blankets maybe. Clothes."

"We left the maternity clothes," she hissed.

"I don't think we'll need them."

"They didn't make it? Did they?" she asked.

"I…don't think so. We'll check, though," he promised.

She nodded once in acceptance and headed to the house. "I'm sorry about Hannah, Rick."

"Thank you."

* * *

Daryl was in the RV watchin' as the minivan approached the Castle and he radioed it in. He saw on the monitors as the sharpshooters made it to the little houses in the battlements, six people were runnin' for the brick walkway carryin' the RPG's with more rocket grenades and the rest of them headed for the keep.

The plan Rand, the Stooges, him and 'Chonne made, includin' the trainin', was probably the best two months of his life right now. He was livin' with a damn good group of people.

He jerked his head back in surprise when he saw Rick and Maggie get out and talk to each other.

"Shit. This can't be good," he muttered.

"Nope. We never get visitors out of the blue," Glen agreed. "We like it that way. I'll get up top," he said before he grabbed his rifle and left.

"I need to speak with Rand. It's Rick Grimes and Maggie Greene from The Crazy Ass Bunker," he yelled.

* * *

Rand headed toward the gate, Michonne and Daryl behind her, the M16 at her side, her sword on her back. She opened the gate and they stepped out.

"How many people do you need?" she greeted.

"What?" the woman, Maggie Greene asked.

"I'm assuming you need people because you're under attack. You're an hour plus away. I need to know how many people are attacking so I can send enough to augment what you have."

Rick Grimes' mouth dropped open before he closed it. "It's not like that," he told her. "We, the bunker, blew up."

She raised her eyebrows. "Were you attacked?"

"No," Maggie answered.

"It blew up from the inside," the man added.

Rand frowned then. "Huh. What happened?"

Twenty minutes and two disjointed stories later they were finished.

"Let me see if I'm understanding what you're saying." She heard Daryl sigh heavily behind her. "You." She pointed to Maggie Greene. "Were out doing a run. You and the run team came back to the Crazy Ass Bunker house on fire. You." She pointed to Rick Grimes. "Were outside with your son when you heard yelling from inside the house then it what? Caught on fire?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Then it blew up?"

"Yes," he repeated.

"How many died?"

Maggie and Rick both looked sad and pissed. "Eleven."

"Tony and Ash?"

"Yes. We stopped by the house you use for patrol, Jesus took us. We've never done one. He said nothang was missing. The food was still there," Rick answered again.

"And you want me to?" She waved her hand for them to continue.

"Right now, we're at the Training Grounds. Until we can start runs and get a look at the house, we need food," Maggie explained.

"Okay."

"We'd also like your advice. On if we should rebuild or not," she added.

Rand took a step back. "The food? Fine. Advice on what to do? No. It's your place. I'm sorry about Ash and Tony. I don't run the Crazy Ass Bunker. I'll call an emergency meeting of the other leaders. We, the Castle, can probably send volunteers if you want to rebuild or help you out with whatever you decide, but I'm not making any decisions for your place."

* * *

"Hold on a minute," Michonne said to Rick and Maggie. "Rand. A word," she requested.

Michonne had seen the look of astonishment on Rick's face when Rand said no. She didn't know what he expected, but if Rand was going to run their area, she already did, she needed to step up. The other communities looked to the Castle for guidance and Rand needed to guide them. It was good Rick was doing it, acknowledging the fact he did need help, and was asking for it.

Rand gave her the blandest look she'd ever seen from the woman after they moved away. Daryl's look wasn't much better.

"I'm not telling them what they should do, Michonne," she warned.

"I think we should go look. When you call a meeting of the others they'll be more likely to send help if you back up what they say," she responded.

"She's gotta point, Rand," Daryl seconded.

"This was your idea, Rand. I know you hate this, but you." Michonne pointed to her. "Started this 'we look out for each other because we all want to live' creed everyone's adopted. They look to the Castle. You." She pushed her finger in the woman's chest. "For help." She sighed. "Do you know everyone thinks the socials were your idea?"

"What?" she screeched.

Michonne laughed a little.

"They do," Daryl backed her up.

"Carl told us when we were bringing him here. I knew you wouldn't want to hear it, but you need to face the facts. You run this area, like you run the Castle. Getting us more involved with each other was a good idea. But they need a leader. And you're it."

"She's right," Daryl drawled. "You started the patrol. You wanted, after our first dick encounter, to find other communities, get them together with us in the lead. You forget that."

"Not for shit like this, Daryl," Rand retorted. "I'm not going to tell anyone what to do about their places."

"We know," Michonne said. "Things like this? Petty details you need to be concerned with."

She narrowed her eyes at her and Daryl. "You're going to keep throwing my words back at me? Aren't you?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"I don't like you."

"Guess you didn't think it out well," he mocked.

"Besides," she continued, "we would have gone up there anyway to check it out."

Michonne had a hard time holding back her laughter as the woman stomped back over to Rick and Maggie.

"I've been advised," she sarcastically said to them, "I lack social skills occasionally. Leave the van here. We'll take one of our cars." She cleared her throat. "I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be, I'll warn you up front. I haven't built anything since I was ten and it was with Legos."

* * *

A/N: I meant to post this yesterday. Thank you to those still reading.


	14. Chapter 14

Maggie didn't know what Michonne said to the woman, but here she and Rick were, in one of The Castle cars, heading back up to Crazy Ass. She wasn't planning on asking for advice, but she admired Rand and what she'd been able to accomplish here. It…slipped out.

She was grateful Michonne did say something. Rick was right. Her word held weight with the other leaders. They might get more help if she backed them up. Like the rest of her group, she stopped thinking about Hilltop, Alexandria and the Kingdom. Most of the time. She wondered what would have happened if Negan hadn't been in the area. Would they have done this? Probably not. Deanna didn't know about the other communities, they had to find out the hard way, and by that time it was too late.

* * *

"Carl okay?" Daryl asked him from the driver's seat. He expected Rand to drive and it looked like she was going to until Daryl took the keys from her hand and slid in behind the wheel. Rand narrowed her eyes at him before Michonne opened the back door and got in. Maggie got in the backseat behind him while Rand was behind Daryl.

"Yeah," Rick answered. "He was trying to teach me hacky sack."

"Huh. Never done it myself," he responded and they fell silent. He turned and looked at Maggie, also silent. She looked at him then out the window. Rick had been used to being with Daryl at one time. The man never talked a lot. Near the end, before they lost the prison, he'd opened up more. Joe.

Michonne didn't surprise him with her silence. She was probably still pissed. Rand. He expected more questions from her. When she first turned them down Rick didn't know how to feel. He did know he needed her backing. He wasn't stupid. He didn't know Maggie was going to ask for advice, but it was a good idea. He'd never built anythang either. He'd done a few thangs around his house before and the other places were already set up. He figured, at the very least, they could clear the house away and stay in the bunker portion. If it was too bad they could move to The Training Grounds. Running water could be a problem, but Jesus and Aaron found the stream easily.

Those people were used to running water and some electricity. It would be a shock for them to have to go without it. Like the Alexandrians, the thought slipped through. They weren't as bad, they killed walkers and grew food, which is more than Deanna had done before they got there, but they were still used to a certain standard. Hell, maybe he was, too. It brought back good and bad memories of the prison; washing up in lukewarm water.

It would be good for him and Maggie to go back with advice from Rand, good or bad. The others would feel better for it.

When they got there the house was smoldering. Daryl stopped the car and they all got out. Rick opened the gate and walked inside.

Rand walked over to the house, Michonne and Daryl behind her, bypassing the mound of clothes on the ground. After a few minutes of looking Daryl went outside the fences.

"Was this really a bunker?" Rand asked.

"Yeah. Three floors. The house." He pointed to the burnt out husk. "Tony and Ash stayed up here. One of the rooms was a clinic. We had a kitchen and a living room. A porch." He watched as the woman and Michonne walked around the front of where the house had been.

"The second floor was where all of us slept," Maggie continued. "The third floor was the gym, the watch room and the armory."

"Was the armory shielded?"

"What?"

"Was the armory shielded? Did it have a metal door?"

"Yeah. Why?" Maggie answered and asked.

"Fire and explosives are a bad mix. You could probably dig those weapons out," she replied.

Rick…hadn't thought of it. Of course, he was busy trying to get everyone situated. He didn't know if he would have thought of it. The look on Maggie's face told him she didn't.

"One less thang to find," he muttered.

"Yeah. One less thing to find," she echoed.

"No other exits out of here?" Michonne asked this time.

"Not that Tony or Ash ever told us," Maggie volunteered the information.

"Well, from my untrained eye, the house is toast, no pun intended. Until you can raze it you won't know what the other areas look like, if they're still habitable or not. There are a few former construction workers at The Castle. I can have them take a look. Any of your residents?"

"We can't find them," Maggie admitted.

"Okay. We'll head back. Tom will have some supplies waiting. I'll call for a meeting in two days. You two are running the place then?" She looked between him and Maggie.

"Yeah," he replied.

"I'll send a quick synopsis of what you told us and what we saw. I'm sure the other communities will send you help, too. After all," she drawled and glared at Michonne. "We need to look out for each other."

* * *

Maggie almost sagged with relief when Rand said she'd call a meeting in two days. Digging out the armory wouldn't be fun, but it would be better than running around trying to find guns like they had with Negan.

"Thank you," Rick accepted.

"Let's go. You have people waiting. We'll send you some fresh food in some water tight containers. Did you have electricity here?"

"A little," Michonne answered for them.

"If you put the containers in a stream you'll have some cooling available." She looked around and stared at their brick oven a few seconds. "Does Linda have one of these?" Rand pointed to it.

"I. She was supposed to come over and look at it, but they ended up moving," she responded.

"Okay. I'm not asking anymore questions until you take a look around the place. You can build a fire so you have something to heat up food. Do you have enough gas to get back and forth?"

"We have gas here. We'll come get it," Rick decided.

"We can put some in the trunk, Rick," Michonne offered.

"Sounds good. One less trip. Anything else you need?" Rand asked.

"Thank you," Maggie sighed.

"We're all trying to make it through this," Rand repeated.

* * *

Rick pulled away from The Castle, van filled with gas, some medicine, food and toiletries.

"You were right," Maggie commented.

"About?"

"She doesn't run The Castle on her own. I'm happy Michonne said somethin' to her."

"Me, too."

"Do you think we would have done this?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged. "I don't know, Maggie. Deanna wasn't aware of the other places. She would have had to get out," he ended in a snarl.

"She would have. We should have," she rebuked him.

"We should have. It's in the past. We can't change it." He hummed a sound. "This time we have choices."

"Better choices than before, you mean."

"Better choices than before."

Rick backed the van toward the house after Mike and Keaton let them in the gate. He dug and found the lock and chain and put it aside. The rest of his people came out and stood around.

"Alright, we went to Crazy Ass with Rand today and brought back the gas," Maggie explained as Abraham and Sasha started pulling out boxes. "The Castle is giving us food, no guns, blankets and toiletries. The metal boxes are filled with fresh food. Aaron, can you and Carl take them and put them in cold water somewhere?"

"The stream," Carl said.

"We also got a lock and chain for the gate," Rick told them. "She's gonna have a few of her people head up and look it over, but the house is burnt down. We'll have to dig for the guns and hand grenades."

"With what?" Tracy asked.

"We'll talk about it," Rick responded. "We're letting everyone know what happened. Let's get this van unloaded and we'll have a meeting."

* * *

It felt like the prison when they first got there, Maggie thought, as she and a few others finished taking all of the boxes inside and going through them. She put the medicine behind the front desk before she left to check on Glenn. She found him in one of the rooms laying down.

"Hey," she addressed him from the doorway.

"Hey. How was it?" he asked as he sat up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sore. A little headache. Well?" he pressed.

"The house is burnt down, Glenn. There was still smoke coming from it. Rand, Michonne and Daryl went with us," she said as she moved to the bed and sat down.

"The beds are better here."

"Shut up," she laughed. "We went and got a new one." Maggie took a breath. "The Castle gave us some food, blankets, medicine. No guns. We'll have to find clothes."

"We've done it before."

"Yeah. They'll help us with what we want to do."

"You and Rick?"

"We'll run it together. We'll see how it goes."

He grunted out a sound. "I think it'll be fine, Maggie."

She laid down next to him and sighed. "It will."

* * *

Rick found himself, with Maggie, back in the minivan two days later. When The Castle messengers showed up he was grateful the women had five gallons of gas with the notice. He was surprised, Maggie too, the meeting would be held at the hotel.

"Reid's gonna be there," she pointed out.

"It's his place, Maggie."

"Shit," she sighed and put her head back against the seat. "Maybe we should move in with him."

"We'll do fine," he responded with confidence. He was confident this would work out. The other places they'd had they'd lost with no other options. They had a place if Crazy Ass didn't work out. He'd heard grumbling about the water, but everyone seemed to be dealing with it well. Much better than the Alexandrians would have.

So far he liked having someone else to help with the decisions and making a watch schedule. Maybe he should have been on the council at the prison. It ran better after he stepped down. He'd started to depend on Maggie before she and Glenn left. They weren't having any problems, then and stopped thinking about the past and concentrated on the road.

When they pulled up to the hotel he recognized some of the cars. Maggie opened the door and walked in. There was a round table set up with water pitchers on it already. He picked out the new guy, Reid, and another man with him. He took a seat at the open chairs with one next to him for Maggie. Rand stood up.

"I'd like to thank you for meeting today," she started. "Rick Grimes and Maggie Greene are the new co-leaders of the Crazy Ass Bunker. After we left I had a few of the construction workers go back up and take a look at what was left. They can't say with any certainty what the bunker portion is like until the house is razed. They expressed some concern with the cement and heat stress and the indoor plumbing. The Castle has a few options we can offer. If you want to rebuild, after you find what you need, we can send people to help you. We'll need a schedule. If you'd like to take over another place The Castle will help with what you need. Again, we'll need a schedule and you need to find supplies. If you'd like to build something new, after you find the materials, send us a schedule and we'll send people to help. We have four open rooms and we can take up to eight people, if you'd like to split up."

"I thought you said you were full at the inn," Reid retorted angrily.

"We recently suffered a loss of some of our residents."

"Assholes?" Robert leaned forward.

"If it had been I would have told you."

"Then what happened?" Miguel questioned.

"I don't have to explain myself, Miguel," she countered.

Rick saw Robert, Pauline, Linda, Brock, Juan and Miguel share looks. "Okay, Rand. We trust you," Robert said calmly.

"We do. You haven't fucked with us yet," Linda seconded with a roll of her eyes at Reid. "You haven't been here long, Reid. She wouldn't fuck with us."

"No, she wouldn't," Juan added as he sat back in his chair. "We're all going through this."

"Correct," Rand responded.

Rick saw Reid and Rand stare at each other hard. He understood what Tony and Ash meant now. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Maggie watch them, too. Rand seemed to dismiss the man when she turned back to him and Maggie. "If the other communities have room and offer, we'll help you transport anything you need," she finished and sat down.

"I've talked it over with Pauline and the others. We can take up to ten of you and anything you have, split evenly, of course," Robert offered. "We'll also send bodies if you want to rebuild or make something new. Like The Castle, we'll need a schedule."

"Miguel and I did the same. We can take ten, as well, and anything you can bring with you. Split evenly, of course," he parroted. "As for bodies to help? We can't at this time."

"We are full at the inn," Linda stated. "We're still figuring out our situation. You can, of course, stay at our old place or we can send bodies, The Training Grounds."

"The Lucky Bitches, too," the black guy with Reid said.

"I apologize, the gentleman with Reid is Tariq," Rand introduced.

"He's my friend," Reid snorted and glared at Rand again.

* * *

Maggie widened her eyes in shock. She was surprised she didn't see Michonne and Daryl with Rand. Then she was surprised Rand had sent someone up so fast to see what they could do. The other offers were what had her gaping. One look at Rick and she could tell it was more than he expected, too.

He cleared his throat. "Thank you for the offers. We'll discuss it with our people."

"Does anyone have anything else while we're here?" Rand asked the table.

"We finished the hotel," Robert spoke up.

"Thank you. It's starting to warm up now, so we'll start the septic system. It shouldn't take long. A month. We already know where the fencing is, it'll take the longest."

"If you send a schedule I can send one or two people. We'll have to stop the patrol, though," Juan relayed.

She nodded her head. "I'd prefer the patrol. With The Castle being four people down we'll need them there."

"You can still have the damn socials here until you get this other place situated," Reid ground out. "We get to participate. We don't have much but we'll bring something."

"We don't have a problem with it," Maggie interjected. "We don't have much either. Right now. Rick?"

* * *

Rick didn't have a problem with it. "No, we won't have a problem."

He saw Rand look at the others. "Thank you, Reid. We appreciate it. If there's nothing else?" she asked the table. Everyone shook their heads. "Thank you again. Let us know what you're going to do and we'll help you as much as we can." She stood up and nodded to them.

"Juan, Miguel, Pauline and I were going to discuss backup places," Robert offered as the people mentioned stayed put. "Since we're here we'll get started on it. You don't mind?" he asked Reid.

The man sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "No. I'd like to hear what you have to say. I never thought of one." He glared at Rand again.

"Does that hurt?" the woman snapped.

Tariq laughed. "I'd like to hear, too."

Rand frowned at all of them before she left.

* * *

"Is that why we saw your people around town the other week? You're putting a backup place here?" Linda burst out. "You can put it wherever the hell you want but I would have thought you'd want it closer to your places."

"No. We're thinking of moving here," Pauline spat. "I think it's a bad idea. We already have our place set up and it was a bitch doing it the first time."

"I agree with Pauline," Juan said before he looked at him and Maggie. "You don't need to be here for this discussion."

"Did you ask Tony and Ash?" Rick asked.

"I sent them a letter floating the idea," Robert admitted.

"This is your fault," Pauline snorted and pointed at Linda.

"Fuck off, Pauline," she laughed. "You're not really mad."

"No, but you got a hotel with running water."

"I also got the Lucky Bitches," she scoffed.

"You don't like it here, Linda, you and the others could leave," Reid sniped.

"Fuck off to you, too," Linda snapped back. "Look, we get you had some hard times. We're not going to sit here and try and one up each other on who had it worse. We're busting our asses here, not sitting on them like you seem to expect. The trade we worked out, _we_ buddy, you agreed to."

"True. You don't wear those knives like jewelry," Tariq commented.

Rick saw a few raised eyebrows. "Yeah. Our last place. Those people considered knives decoration and not something they needed," Reid raised his voice in anger.

"You're not there, ass," Pauline snarled at him. "We busted our asses making our places, trying to keep our people alive. We're no different from you."

"I'm not sure about the country club you left," Robert huffed. "You're not there so move on."

"It's easy for you to say," Reid shouted. "You didn't get in a war you couldn't win. Watching your people die."

"I've watched plenty of my people die," Robert yelled back as he stood up and banged the table. "We've had our own share of skirmishes with assholes. You are not the only one!"

"We're getting off track," Miguel broke in. "Linda is right. We're not here to one up each other on who had it worse, Reid. We're not your enemies. Sit your ass down."

As he listened, he wondered if his people had left Alexandria and found this place before Crazy Ass, if they'd be on the other end of what the rest of the groups were saying.

"How would it work?" Maggie broke the staring contest. "Who would run the town?"

"Getting a little ahead of yourself," Pauline stated.

Robert let out a breath and sat. "She's right, you are. We've only had a few discussions on how this would work. We did have people up here a week ago looking around. There's a neighborhood not far from the high school. We could put up fences, dig up the football field for plants and animals. Set up a charter for the town. Work out a set of rules and a council. I was going to ask you, Linda, if you wanted to participate."

"So we'd run our own sections and what? Meet in the middle? Combine what we have?" Linda questioned.

"We haven't gotten that far yet," Miguel admitted. "Combining what we have would be the smartest move. As for running our sections I'm against it. These socials are bringing us close together. We can just be and have a council."

"Residents of Castletown," Robert concluded.

"Castletown?" Brock laughed. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Pauline stated. "If we do this Rand would be the reason why we did it, Brock. I'm against it. Nothing personal, but putting up fences the first time was a bitch. We lost people doing it," she sneered at Reid. "A point is the skineaters are practically non-existent here."

"I agree with that statement," Tariq voiced. "Every building we went in the ghosts were down. Crumbling. All we'd have to do is sweep them out with a broom."

"We hardly saw any at the socials," Miguel imparted. "A few, yes, but they walk so of course we'll see some."

"We have forty two people, ten of them children. We can bring teachers and a school nurse."

"We have twenty-five people, four of them children. We have a doctor," Miguel stated. "A few of our residents were in construction."

Linda tilted her head. "We, including Brock, have construction workers. No teachers. I have somewhat of a law enforcement background."

"Really?" Reid drawled.

"Yes. I was a park ranger. I carried a gun and everything," she retorted before turning her attention back to Robert. "We have twenty-one people. Five of them kids."

"You're thinking about this?" Brock asked in shock.

"Yeah. I'd work out a trade with Reid for the time we spent here. Running water?"

"I was going to offer a trade to Rand to put in or show us how to do a septic system," Robert answered. "She knows how." The man cleared his throat. "These are preliminary discussions. The patrol is still on so we can exchange letters or meet somewhere if we feel this is worth pursuing. If not, a backup place, combined, Juan would be good and we'd be willing to meet with you to discuss."

"I'm not totally against this idea, Robert. We've never put up fences. We're in a gated community. We welded sheet metal to it," Juan said. "If you'd like to show us the neighborhood under discussion I'll take a look. _If_," he stressed, "it seems doable, we'll discuss it with our people."

"I still don't like it," Pauline commented, "but I can see the attraction. If the three of us." She pointed to Linda, "combined we have at least eighty-eight people including nineteen kids. A doctor, a nurse and a sheriff." She grinned at Linda this time.

"We'd like to be involved," Tariq spoke up. "Don't get us wrong, the hotel is nice." He paused. "No it's not, but it has running water and fences. The country club we came from was a gated community, too, with all the trimmings. We can go back and take the solar panels."

"Really? You want to do this?" Reid yelled at Tariq.

"I do, Reid. These people are right. We're all trying to get through this. We have nineteen people. Three of them kids. If we combine, we'll have over a hundred people. We've seen the Training Grounds work. They aren't like the Athenians. Linda's no damn politician. Rand sure as hell isn't. I know you trust Rand or else you wouldn't have taken this place." Tariq put his hand on Reid's shoulder. "Since we've found The Castle things have been…good. It'll take time. And maybe, with a council, you can take some of the weight off."

Reid shrugged off Tariq's hand after a few minutes. "Fine. Let's go look," he grudgingly accepted.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter. I hope you enjoy.


	15. Chapter 15

Maggie stood with her mouth open as the leaders from the other communities left them there. "Should we go with them?" she asked Rick.

He was standing there with his own shocked expression as they heard the door lock. "I guess not."

"Do you want to? Do this? If we join we have twenty-seven people. Two kids. And you're a real sheriff," she pointed out.

Before he could answer Reid and Tariq came back. "You need to get out of my place now. The meeting's over," he demanded.

"We'd like to check this out, too."

"Did you need an engraved invitation?" Tariq snottily asked.

"No," Rick retorted.

"Then move your ass," Reid ordered.

Maggie scoffed and moved her ass out the door with Rick. The trip to the other side of town wasn't bad. They did see a few walkers but anyone close would put them down. They strolled, and she had a hard time because that's what it was, a stroll, to the neighborhood near the school. When they reached it Robert showed them around the neighborhoods pointing out possible places to put up fencing. Miguel was adding on to what he was saying. Even Pauline and occasionally Juan would make a comment.

As they discussed it her and Rick were quiet but Maggie could picture it. Her small town. They could have a real school. Her and Glenn would have a doctor on hand, and a nurse, when they decided to have a child.

"We could use this." Brock pointed to the school.

"Right. A few rooms for classes. The rest." Robert waved his hand. "We could use as a backup place. I don't think we'd need one, not with The Castle."

"You put an awful lot of faith in Rand," Reid said.

"We do. She started the patrol," Linda responded. "She put us in touch with the Crazy Ass Bunker. We've done a few trades. We've done trades with Blue Mountain and the Fort. They've told us about sizeable biter groups they'd seen doing patrol and a group that attacked them."

"What happened to them?" Tariq asked.

"They killed all but a few," Brock answered.

Robert shrugged. "The first time I met Rand she admitted she killed six men who were bothering The Castle."

"Huh," Linda grunted. "She never told us that."

"She didn't start the patrol until after," Pauline said. "Cool as a fucking cucumber, that one. When they found us we demanded they drop the weapons. She bargained for her knives."

Robert laughed. "She said she wouldn't be unarmed."

"I guess she does have brass balls," Tariq muttered.

"She's a smart lady," Juan endorsed.

"It's been good for all of us," Miguel noted.

They spent the next half hour discussing the practicalities of the other communities moving to Castletown.

Maggie'd never put a wall up in her life. Neither had Rick. Crazy Ass would be the easiest to move. They could go back to the Bunker and get those weapons and the cameras and the solar panels. They'd need a lot of help.

"Ash never said anythang to you? About moving?" Rick asked her when they were on their way back.

"No. She never did."

* * *

This was one reason why he wanted to run a place. If Tony and Ash had decided to move he'd go because he'd have a safe place for Carl. "They probably would have," Maggie's comment brought him back to the conversation.

"Probably," he agreed. "What do you think?" he asked a few quiet minutes later.

"I could see it. All of us in those neighborhoods, livin' in our own houses. I'd almost want to go see if the solar panels in Alexandria were still there."

"No."

"No. If Negan's around."

"Right. We don't know and as long as the asshole stays there we'll be fine."

"If he comes here?"

"We'd have over a hundred people that could defend our place. Plus, The Castle."

"We've never put up walls or fences before. Hell, even Juan welded walls to his fences."

"Not much better than they'd done in Alexandria."

"I don't know how they did the walls at Hilltop."

"I guess we'll find out."

"What if they want to split up?"

"Then we split up, Maggie."

"It would be nice. Goin' to The Castle," she murmured.

"It would. Carl would like to go."

"Yeah, Carl will definitely want to go to The Castle."

Rick knew his son and he'd be willing to share a room with him if they went to The Castle. He didn't know though. Rand had Daryl and Michonne as her advisors. "Would you want to, Maggie? We'd have seats on the council at Castletown."

"I…don't know, Rick. Stone walls."

"No guns inside."

"I know. I guess I could get used to not wearin' one. We could carry knives so it's not like we'd be defenseless."

"We'd have to do patrol."

Maggie grimaced. "Yeah, we'd have to do patrol. I was gonna try one anyway."

Rick wasn't planning on doing a patrol. If he and Carl moved to The Castle he'd do it. From what everyone said they had places to sleep at night and cook sometimes. He'd hate to do all that walking. He understood why everyone did it and it was a good idea and he wished he'da done somethang like that when they made it to Alexandria. He couldn't change it now. He could live with Carl in a stone castle. His son could get an education. If they did move there he could always send Carl to school in Castletown. It was a question he would ask Robert.

When they got back and were let inside everyone was waiting.

"Well?" Lisa demanded impatiently.

"Let the man inside, Lisa," Mike grumbled. "Shit. They just got here."

"It was interesting. Everyone was there including the Lucky Bitches," Rick began.

"The Lucky Bitches?" Abraham tried not to laugh.

"Reid Greeley's group," Maggie explained. "And I understand now what Tony and Ash meant. I think he hates her."

"Yeah," Rick sighed and ran his hand down his hair nervously. "Let's get everyone together for a meeting. Including Keaton and Tracy."

After everyone gathered, it didn't take long, Rick stood in front of his people. "Alright, all the leaders were there and we have some options. Linda said we can stay here if we want. The Castle is willing to help us if we want to rebuild or take over another building. We'll need to find what we need and send them a schedule. They also offered a place for eight of us, if we want to split up."

"Michonne said they didn't have any open rooms," Carl said.

"I guess they lost some people, Carl," Rick replied.

"Not on patrol," Aaron stated.

"Not on patrol. Rand said she didn't have to explain herself but they didn't lose them to assholes," Maggie clarified.

Glenn shook his head. "I'm not surprised she didn't tell you how."

"I want to go to The Castle," Carl whooped.

"Listen, Carl, to the other choices," Rick told him. "The Fort and Blue Mountain can take up to ten of us. Anythang we have will be split evenly. Robert and Juan were real particular about it."

"The Castle doesn't want anything?" Andrew asked.

"She didn't say, but I don't think so," Maggie answered.

"The Training Grounds and the Lucky Bitches will send people to help us with what we want to do," Rick continued. "The other idea that was floated."

Aaron chuckled and coughed a little. "Sorry, Rick, it's. You sound like you were at a real meeting."

Maggie furrowed her brows. "It was a real meeting. We walked in and everyone was there and there was water on the tables."

"Hm," Andrew murmured. "I guess she is very business."

"Yeah. The others, The Fort, Blue Mountain, the Training Grounds and the Lucky Bitches discussed taking over a part of Bridgewater and making, basically, a town."

* * *

Maggie understood now why Ash would get frustrated when everyone talked at once. Rick waited a few minutes before raising his voice.

"Hey."

Abraham whistled loudly making everyone shut up. "He's not done talking. I'd like to hear this."

"Thank you, Abraham," Rick laughed. "It's, according to Robert, preliminary discussions right now. If Juan doesn't think it's feasible he won't do it."

"We walked around the neighborhoods he was talking about and the high school. It's a big area. They'd tear up the football field for plants and animals. The houses, around fifty, are on four streets."

"Are they serious?" Lisa questioned incredulously.

"Very serious," Maggie replied.

"They will use a couple of classrooms for classes and the rest of the school used as a backup place. Those four communities, if they combine, will have eighty-five adults and twenty-two kids. If we go with them we'll have one hundred ten people and twenty-four kids," Rick continued.

"How?" Aaron asked.

"How what?" Rick frowned.

"How are they going to put up walls or fences? No offense to you or Maggie, Rick, but from what I understand no one from your group ever put up walls or fences. At the prison they were already there and when you came to Alexandria the walls were up. Has anyone from Crazy Ass done it or were the fences already up?" Aaron inquired.

"The fences were already installed," Keaton volunteered.

Jesus scoffed. "Aaron's right. The cement isn't any good. It's why our oven looked like it did. And if it's a big area? It took us months to do Hilltop. I hope they figure it out, but I'd prefer to go to The Castle."

Maggie deflated a little. She knew that might discourage most of them and looking at the faces she could see it did.

"Did you ask?" Tracy huffed.

"No, but we can. The patrol is still on so we can get a list of questions together and send them," Maggie offered.

"No offense to you or Rick, Maggie, but I'd like to go to Blue Mountain," she returned. "I'm sure you'll do fine wherever you end up."

"You don't want to try and help us rebuild?" Rick questioned.

"No. Nothing personal, but I was with Tony and Ash since the beginning. We had a good place, but whatever the hell happened? They died underground. I don't want to live there. Anymore."

"Hold on," Rick raised his voice. "Linda said we can take over this place."

Crazy Ass started talking over each other again and Rick let it go. Until they ran out of questions and comments, trying to get a word in would be too much trouble. Tony and Ash held Crazy Ass together, not her and Rick. Maggie could understand. If it had been anyone else that came in for Rick when she was with him, and she had another option, she'd take it, too.

After everyone quieted down Lisa found some paper and wrote down names and places, finalizing where almost everyone wanted to go. The only ones not on the lists were Sasha, Abraham, Glenn, Rick and herself. There was one spot open at the Fort, but they didn't want to split up. Sasha, she knew, would have a problem at The Castle because of Michonne and Daryl. Abraham would follow her. Glenn wanted to go to The Castle. She did, too, if only for a little while, just to learn how Rand did things. Rick would go with Carl.

Rick sighed. "Alright, if this is everyone's decision me and Maggie will head down to The Castle and let Rand know and get this started."

* * *

Rand jogged back to the Castle. She needed to clear her head. They were going to move in together. On the one hand it made sense. A bigger population made it harder for dicks to take over or just plain take. Blue Mountain had a doctor and Robert would be a fool to not jump all over it. Hell, if she thought she could, she'd steal a doctor from another community.

It was a pain in her ass and it made it more imperative she find other communities. If they moved to Blue Mountain she'd be sure to offer the Fort, with Robert and Pauline's permission, to any community that looked like it was on its last legs or another group like Reid's. Personally, she didn't find it likely to happen again, but she never thought she'd end up with another large group, like the Crazy Ass Bunker had, as she did with Reid and his people.

The Crazy Ass Bunker was going to be another problem. She didn't know the residents well, but she would understand if they chose to go to the other places. This Rick and Maggie hadn't been in charge long. They'd seen other communities with leaders and they seemed stable. Plus, they had a chance to move away in a controlled environment. They hadn't been out much. She hoped they stayed together otherwise she'd end up with eight new residents, even though she could use them. The loss of Dominic, Tammy, Tab and even Jonathan Wilmer was a blow. She should try and go find them, but if she did she'd be in so much trouble.

She didn't want to send anyone other than herself to find them. She knew they were capable but shit still happened. They weren't coming back and if it was dicks? She'd kill them all.

Maybe she'd get lucky and they'd stay together. She wasn't going to count on it. She took great pleasure in killing the few walkers she'd seen on the way back.

Once she crossed the drawbridge she headed for the office and put her feet on the desk. She needed a damn drink. The next thing she knew she saw a glass of scotch in front of her face and looked up to see Waya and Daryl.

"Look like ya need it," Daryl commented as he took his chair.

"Where is everyone else?" she asked as she sipped.

"Around. How was the meeting?" Waya inquired.

She sipped again and sighed. "I think the Fort and Blue Mountain will move in together." She took another. "I want to find Dominic and the others and we may end up with new residents. I'm unhappy right now."

"You can't stop 'em, Rand," Daryl reminded her.

"I know that, too, Daryl," she muttered. "As much as I would like to. But." She pointed at him. "I know bitching about it won't change a damn thing. And I also know going to find Dominic and the others is out of the question."

"Mm, it is," Waya agreed.

"Seth and Adrian would be better," Daryl stated.

"Really?" she drawled and raised her eyebrows.

"Face it, Rand, they're the best choices to go. They won't even be in the area," Waya added.

"I know, but I feel like."

"You should do it," Waya cut her off. "They knew what could happen, Rand, but shit still happens."

"I've told myself that."

"We gonna try again?" Daryl questioned.

"Yes. I…need to wait a while."

"We are spoiled," Waya chuckled.

"We are and not 'cause of what we have," Daryl said. "Those other places were easy to find. Other places may try and hide. Makes it harder."

"Also not just another pretty face," she complimented. She smiled when she saw Daryl squirm in his chair.

"I'd say the only good thing about the Crazy Ass Bunker blowing up was it was an inside job."

When they were there the first time Daryl had left to look for tracks. Michonne had been right. She would have sent someone up there to check out their story. If the Grimes' weren't paying attention how would they know they weren't attacked?

"The only good thing. They're down eleven people, including kids, Tony and Ash. Personally, I liked them," she admitted.

"You like all of them," Waya scoffed.

"Not Reid. He's an ass."

* * *

Daryl didn't know the man too well so he couldn't say anythin'. He didn't like the others, he didn't not like the others. Like Rand and Rick, they all tried to make places for their people. One advantage was the area. They'd been stupid to believe Eugene. He knew 'Chonne sometimes felt like an ass for gettin' Rick to go to DC, after they made it here and had some peace. Where they lived, like they'd been tryin' to do in the prison.

"So," Rand sighed and he rolled his eyes. She could be a drama queen sometimes. "We need more people in the area. I never thought I'd say that. It's why I mostly stayed around here. I don't think we'll get, I don't want to use the word lucky, but fortunate? You know what I mean," she scoffed at Waya's smile. "To get another big group like Reid's who aren't dicks."

"One or two at a time ain't bad, Rand," he responded drily. Jake, when he was on the specialized run team, brought back a couple of people and they worked out alright. "No use worryin' about it 'til it happens."

"Spoken like a true advisor," Waya smirked.

"Shut up, man."

* * *

When they decided to open up the scout's rooms for anyone at the Crazy Ass Bunker, Rick, they were sure, would get everyone to stay at Linda's old place until they decided to rebuild or find something new. He could be inspirational and he'd step up to lead them. Carl would be the only one from their group that would want to come to the Castle, but she and Daryl both knew he loved his dad and would want to stay with his dad.

It was a shock when Rick and Maggie showed up the next day and asked for help in relocating the Crazy Ass Bunker residents. She could tell Rand was upset and pissed. She wasn't the only one. Daryl looked pissed, too. Frankly, she was pissed.

Rand let out a breath. "Of course. We'll need a list of who and what are going where, so we can plan appropriately."

Maggie handed her the lists and Rand looked them over before passing them to her and Daryl.

"The plants at the Crazy Ass Bunker? I noticed they weren't on there. Did you need us to go back and transport them once they're dug up?"

"No. I think they'll be able to handle it," Maggie replied.

"Okay."

"There's only nineteen on these lists," she noted. "Are you staying at Linda's old place?"

"We'd like to come to the Castle," Rick answered.

"Of course," Rand responded right away. "We'll only need one vehicle for us. You're keeping one of the minivans?"

"Yes."

"Great. We'll show you where to park it when we come back. We'll need someone familiar with the woods to show us where the cameras are. We have an electrician who can take them down." Daryl took off to go find Martin.

"You didn't say the Castle needed anythang but the residents decided to split three ways. We have a horse and trailer, a few rabbits and chickens we'll bring with us."

"Cool. We have some clothes you can look through, footwear, etc. Uh. This is probably too late, but we don't allow guns inside the walls. Tony and Ash told you, right?" she questioned.

"My son, Carl, he told us."

"Good. We can set up personal lockers for you. Check them out when you leave and check them in when you come back. Michonne?"

"Daryl went to get Martin, he's the electrician, so if you want to wait in your car we'll be right behind you," she told them.

"Thank you," Maggie said and gave them a grateful look before they left.

"Well, shit," Rand hissed. "I was hoping they'd stay together."

"And up there?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, and stay up there. Damn it."

"We thought they'd stay, Rand," Michonne commented.

"Can't do anything about it now, I guess. Did I do this wrong? I figured if they would have to split up they'd decide to stay together."

"No. You would have looked like an asshole if you didn't offer them something," she noted.

"We did. We offered to help them move or rebuild. Shit," she hissed again.

When they got on the road, Rand driving this time, she didn't say anything to the woman who ran the place, but now that Rick was coming to live there she was going to have to say something. If Martin hadn't been with the three of them she would have.

It took them over an hour before they reached the Crazy Ass Bunker. Maggie got out and opened the gate while they parked the cars. It still looked bad. Rand grimaced and she could relate. "The monitors?" Martin looked at Rick.

"On the third floor."

"You still want the cameras and the solar panels?" he asked incredulously.

"We're gonna come back and try and dig them out," Maggie replied.

"Why don't one of you show Martin where the cameras are the other can, I don't know, look around the barn to see if there's anything you missed when you left," Rand recommended.

Rick took them, after a short conversation with Maggie, outside the fence. Rand, herself, Daryl and Rick watched as Martin took down the six cameras and solar panels. When they were finished, they headed back inside to see Maggie with a few more things for the horses. After they cars were loaded they went to the Training Grounds. Rick told the two guards everything was fine before she finally got a chance to talk to Rand while the Crazy Ass Bunker divided the chickens, rabbits, food, blankets and medicine.

"Daryl and I need to talk to you, Rand. About Rick," she said in a low voice.

"Am I going to like this?"

"Nah. You won't," Daryl answered.

"Shit. Before or after we get these people situated at the Castle?"

"Before."


	16. Chapter 16

Carl was excited he was going to live in The Castle. At first he thought everyone would try and stay together after his dad told them their choices. When Tracy said she wanted to go to Blue Mountain everyone else started shouting where they wanted to go. He wondered why no one else wanted to go to The Castle. The place was great. He'd spent hours being grilled by them about it.

He knew Sasha and Abraham weren't happy. Maggie looked kind of sad. Aaron and Jesus looked happy. His dad? He wasn't sure. Carl believed Michonne and Daryl when they said they weren't mad anymore. They didn't talk about it when he'd been there, but they'd talked to his dad when they picked him up and dropped him off and they waved at Glenn.

"Why aren't we going to The Castle?" Carl asked as his dad followed The Castle car with Michonne, Daryl, Rand and the electrician, Martin, in the minivan going to The Fort.

"We're saying goodbye to them, Carl. We'd lived with them for a few years," his dad told him.

"We trust Rand, Carl, but your dad and I were in charge for the last few days. We want to make sure they make it," Maggie added.

* * *

Daryl drove with Michonne in the passenger seat when they left The Training Grounds. After putting the key to the lock in her pocket, Rand had asked Martin to ride in one of the minivans, he shrugged and did it.

"Okay, you said I'm not going to like this," she started. "Is this about you getting banished from Alexandria?"

"Yeah. Rick kicked me out 'cause I followed 'Chonne. When I went back he said he couldn't trust me."

"That doesn't make sense, but whatever," she scoffed.

"Rick was going to take over Alexandria with Carol and Daryl," 'Chonne said.

"Really?" she drawled.

Him and Michonne told her about the takeover, 'Chonne leavin' and why, him not wantin' to do it, but still with Rick and him following her because she was one of them. Him going back, what Rick did to Pete Anderson and Deanna steppin' down and how he couldn't be trusted.

"I went back to the Castle. I didn't have anywhere else to go," he ended.

"You could have gone off by yourself," she pointed out.

"I didn't have nowhere else to go," he repeated. "I get there and you're callin' me 'lieutenant'. We started cleanin' out the town, cuttin' down trees, puttin' up fencin'."

'Chonne turned in the passenger seat. "You know Daryl and I would never try and take over. We had the chance. We don't want to run the place. You're better at it than we are." She paused. "When we got to Alexandria we were all having problems. We'd gone through some horrific experiences, Rand. Then we get taken to a place where no one protected themselves. There was no watch. They weren't growing food."

"Deanna was a moron," he broke in.

"I spent months trying to find a sick bastard that killed a friend of mine and tried to take over the prison. After a while, I let it go. Then the dick comes back with a tank."

"Killed Hershel."

"That's the vet?" Rand questioned.

"Yeah. He was our doctor, too. Got us through a flu that was killin' most of us," he responded.

"We were separated. Dicks found Daryl then they found us. Carl was going to be killed by those dicks after being raped. Rick bit the man's throat out."

Daryl remembered and breathed deep.

"We found each other again at a slaughter house. Our slaughter."

"Like cannibals?" Rand gaped in shock.

"Cannibals. Maggie's sister, Beth, she was killed in front of Rick and Daryl," Michonne continued. "We were on the road to nowhere, no water or food, when Aaron found us and took us to Alexandria. We were…dazzled. They had electricity and running water."

"Deanna was a moron," he repeated.

"They wouldn't allow us guns or knives," she said.

"Some of them people, 'Chonne, shouldn't have been able to have guns," he sneered.

"Which is why we don't allow them inside the walls, but at the time we were."

"Having problems?" Rand interjected blandly.

"Having problems," she confirmed. "Rick? He had a daughter, Judith. She didn't make it. I'm not excusing the man at all. Even after all this time I don't agree. The Governor tried to take over the prison. Rick was doing the same thing. Daryl and I spent months hunting that son of a bitch."

"Was he a _real_ governor?" Rand gasped.

"Just called himself that," Daryl huffed.

"We're telling you what happened," Michonne said, "so you can be prepared."

"Don't think he'll try it at the Castle," he offered.

"I…don't think so either," 'Chonne hesitantly agreed.

"Huh," the woman grunted and sat silently. When they reached the Fort everyone got out of the minivans, while Rand talked to Robert and Pauline. Rick and Maggie went over and stood with them. Him and 'Chonne stayed by the car.

"You know, if Rick tries that shit at the Castle, it ain't Rand he'll have to be worried about," he commented when she joined him.

"It'll be us."

Daryl knew if it came down to it, he'd do what he had to, to protect his family and the others.

* * *

Rand got in the backseat and leaned her head back as she thought about what Daryl and Michonne told her. She wasn't a fan of what Rick Grimes was going to do. She would have left from the get, but she'd been on her own and didn't have people to protect.

"Let me see if I understand the timeline here," she prefaced. "You had a home and it was blown up by a dick in a tank. You separated. Daryl found dicks then they found you, Michonne. Everyone finds each other at the super dick funhouse. You escape and are taken down the rabbit hole. In a nutshell."

The woman rolled her eyes but she heard Daryl choke on a laugh. "Essentially."

"I'm not trivializing what you went through, at all. My hat's off to you for making it as long as you have and not going all the way bat-shit crazy." She opened her eyes and sat up. "I'm going to have to address what happened in Alexandria."

"You gonna threaten him?" Daryl asked her.

She frowned. "No. I'll treat him like Jonathan Wilmer. I, obviously, don't agree with what he wanted to do. You know my opinion on dicks that take over other people's places. I'm, frankly, floored by this Deanna woman. Really? No one carried anything? She must have gotten the good spot in the Land of Oz."

Michonne tried not to laugh this time. "She was a real politician."

Rand let out a breath. "While I sympathize with everything everyone in that group went through, including you two, I refuse to spend time waiting on some dick to try and take over. We have a good place with good people and we're not going to lose it."

* * *

Maggie was impressed when they walked inside the spike filled fence. Jess had not been lying about the porcupine families. They had way more than the prison fences. Rand had suggested leaving the animals in the pasture while they made their way into The Castle. She looked over the side of the drawbridge into the moat and saw muddy brown water.

"Are there walkers in here?" Jesus asked.

Rand frowned. "No. We swim in there when it gets hot out."

This caused Carl to whoop about swimming in the summer. Rick smiled and shook his head.

"How do you know?" Sasha demanded.

"There was a fence up when we found The Castle," Michonne snapped.

"Nobody inside, either," Daryl added.

"We've been swimming in there for two years," Rand replied coolly. "I think we would have known by now."

She didn't like checking her gun in, but Rand assured them they'd be segregated. 'After you hear our expectations you may want to leave' was her response to the mutters. When she finally made it inside her mouth fell open, along with everyone else's, but Carl. The place was huge. She saw more buildings and people going in and out of the keep, as Carl told them it was called. There were a few tables set up in the bailey, or the courtyard, they bypassed as they headed inside. Maggie tried not to goggle as they strode though the lobby. "Tom," Rand greeted the man when they entered the large dining room. "I'm going to need the dining room for a while."

"Okay, Rand," he responded and left.

"Take seats," the woman requested and waited until everyone sat down.

"I'm going to ask you some questions then I'm going to do a quick Castle 101. Feel free to stop me with clarifying questions. Do any of you have any special skills, such as carpentry, masonry or anything construction related?"

"I do. I helped roof the barn at Crazy Ass," Abraham answered.

"Anything else?" No one else answered. "Okay. Any medical related skills aside from bandaids or bandages?" She waited a few minutes and got no answers. "Do any of you speak or understand another language?"

Glenn raised his hand. "Korean."

"If we were to drop you in the middle of Seoul, before, how well would you do?"

He grimaced. "Uh, I can't speak it but I can understand it. If the people talk slow."

"How many languages do you speak here?" Aaron asked.

"We speak six fluently with a passing knowledge of four more."

"Cool," Carl hooted.

"Do we have to learn them?" Rick gaped at her.

"No. Everyone speaks English. We have classes if you'd like to take one," she offered.

"I heard," Rick grimaced.

"Do any of you have experience with weapons other than guns, knives or machetes, such as swords, bows, crossbows or slingshots?"

"Slingshots?" Carl frowned.

"Slingshots. Take a rock, and if your aim is good, you can be relatively safe while killing a walker or a person."

Jesus laughed. "I guess I never thought of that."

"Needs must," she responded. "Next. Do any of you know basic self-defense or any martial art?"

"I have a black belt in karate." Jesus raised a hand.

"Basic self-defense. I was a sheriff's deputy," Rick volunteered.

Rand opened and closed her mouth a few times. "I…see," she finally muttered.

"Basic self-defense. I was in the army. Sargent," Abraham told her.

"You led a squad?" she asked.

"Yes. Iraq and Afghanistan."

Rand nodded her head. "Good to know. Did any of you have a hobby such as sewing, candle making, paper making or anything else crafty?"

"Why?" Sasha huffed.

"If you can make paper you can make toilet paper. Candles? Knowing how to make those could be, just throwing this out there, important one day. When the world ends," she drawled.

Maggie kept a straight face but she could tell Sasha was a little pissed. Those were good skills to have. Jesus and Aaron had grins on their faces.

"Any organized sport activities such as kickboxing, regular boxing, yoga or weightlifting?"

"Yoga?" she questioned loudly.

"Yoga. Increases flexibility and stamina. It's not just for girls, either," she smirked.

"This place is fantastic," she heard Aaron whisper to Jesus.

"Kickboxing?" Sasha raised her hand.

"Kickboxing increases stamina and could help you do some damage to a dick who's attacking you. Relying on guns or knives is asking for trouble."

"Do you have classes in all of this stuff?" Glenn gawked at her.

"Most of it, yes," Rand addressed him. "If any of you have an epiphany, say you played marbles when you were ten and kicked ass, let me know. Everyone brings something to the table. It may seem stupid, but it might not be. Next order of business: The Castle. Tom is the seneschal, which means."

"He runs the keep," Carl inserted with a grin.

"Correct, smart ass. He runs the keep. He does the schedules for food prep, cooking and cleaning in addition to tracking consumption of goods. Cleaning being the common areas and common laundry. You're responsible for your own rooms. You're adults and the hotel is closed."

"Food prep?" Maggie asked.

"We have a mill and grow wheat."

"Shit," Sasha hissed.

"If you're allergic."

"No. I can't believe you do that," she retorted.

"And a variety of other things for food prep. Canning, drying, smoking, butchering," Rand continued with a frown directed at Sasha. "If you need anything Tom can help. Bradford is the head villein. He's pretty loose. Let's face it, standing over animals and plants doesn't make them grow any faster. When we have to harvest everyone helps, except those on watch. Other than that? Make your way down and pull weeds. I do it. Janet is the court jester or I've heard her referred to as the 'cruise director' or 'social coordinator'. She's in charge of the calendar. We have everything on it. If you used to have a hobby you love or are good at and would like to teach a class? Tell Janet and she'll float the idea. If you want to take a class and it's not listed or is listed? Speak with her and she can help you. We're not all fun and games here, judging by the looks on some faces, we work hard. We have down time. Use it. Or don't. I don't give a shit. I make the watch and patrol schedule and oversee everything." Rand looked at all of them again before sitting down at the table they were using. "I have to ask you, Deputy Grimes, do you want to be here?"

* * *

The question made Rick feel like he was in his high school principal's office. "Yes. It's a good place. You certainly do a lot," he replied.

"Huh. Okay. I'm going to address the elephant in the room. The takeover of Alexandria. I've heard from Daryl and Michonne their version of events. I wasn't there so I'm not going to judge you for your past actions. Deanna, from what I understand, had a…different view of what was happening outside her walls."

Rick heard Sasha snort.

"I'll be honest. I was at a place that was taken over by a dick. It put a bad taste in my mouth so I left. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I know everything. I don't. I know a lot of useless information I was able to utilize to my advantage. If you have a problem, any of you, on how things are done come find me. I have an open door policy. If I'm not with my family or friends or The Castle is under attack, I'll listen. If you don't feel comfortable speaking with me, find Daryl or Michonne. Tom. Bradford. Jamal. Janet. Hell, find Lupe and tell her. They'll tell me. I'll respond. I'll explain why we do the things we do. I'll listen if you have ideas on what can be improved. But if any of you think to come in here, sneak around and try and change the management or the way we do things, you're in for a rude awakening. This is my place. Also, still on the table is, if you don't like it here, I'll help you with another place. We're all going through this, not just your group. The goal is living. A clash of ideas? I have better things to do."

Rick cleared his throat. "I understand. I was," he trailed off.

"I know. Having problems," Rand returned sardonically.

It was his turn to snort. "Somethang like that, yeah. From everythang I've seen and heard about you and this place there's nothang I could do to make it better."

The woman stared at him. "There's no need to blow smoke up my ass, either. Flattery will get you punched in the face."

"I'm being honest. A stone castle. You started patrols of the area. Trades. Socials. You've done a lot. We won't have any problems."

She nodded. "Fine. Next order of business is anyone that doesn't have a good grasp of self-defense must take a class. I can't order you to do it, Mr. Grimes," she said as she looked at Carl, "but I will strongly recommend to your father you take it. Also, Jenny will no longer show you anything regarding weapons until your dad tells me it's okay for you learn. Patrols are mandatory for anyone over eighteen. We'll be cutting down to four people and every third month myself, my knights and my advisors will do it. During that time Tom, Helen and Bradford run The Castle. We have drills you'll have to participate in."

"What kind of drills?" Aaron questioned.

"Drills for saving yourself and anyone else from The Castle in case it falls under attack. Please have a familiarity of the escape routes that are on the walls of the keep. I'll get together maps of where our backup place is located. You'll, obviously, have to make your own way there."

"You've been attacked before, right?" Maggie inquired.

"Once," she responded with a frown. "Daryl, Michonne and the others were able to kill most of them. Watch is mandatory for anyone sixteen or older until such time as it doesn't become necessary. Deputy Grimes, we have, somewhat, of an education system here. Please find Helen at your earliest opportunity to get your son tested and appropriate lessons can be planned. Are there any other questions?"

Rick wasn't surprised when Sasha asked, "Why can't we carry guns inside?"

"I apologize, I don't think I know everyone's name."

"Sasha Williams."

Her response of 'Ms. Williams, I've met people that should never have had access to a fork let alone a gun' made a few of them laugh out loud, including him. "When the seven of us were deciding what type of community we wanted that was one of the rules. We have lockers stationed at the wooden gate near the walls. Leave it there, locked, when you come inside. Take it out when you leave. See Tom. He can provide you with one."

"That's great," Aaron chuckled.

"People are dicks," she grumbled. "I think that's it. Tom will show you to the rooms and arrange a tour."

"Do I have to go?" Carl raised his hand.

"There were places, Mr. Grimes, you weren't allowed, so yes, you have to go. We usually, anyone not on watch, eat together for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is on you. I'll give everyone a few days off. Those of you that haven't done a patrol, Deputy Grimes and Ms. Greene, I'll schedule you next month." She stood up. "Again, if you have any questions please ask. We don't hide things here. It comes back and bites you in the ass. Tom," she raised her voice a little.

"Got it, Rand," the man acknowledged as he walked into the room.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Thank you to all those who spent time reading this story. As I said in an earlier (like way earlier) a/n I do have an outline for the last installment of this series. Maybe one day I'll get around to finishing it.**

* * *

Aaron was impressed, more so now, with Rand. She was smart, funny and she had done a lot of things, not just for The Castle, but the other communities.

"I think, if I could love a woman romantically, it would be her," Jesus told him as they checked out their new room.

"No kidding. I'm impressed by this," he told his roommate.

"Tom said they had roll-a-ways," the man offered.

"It's a queen bed. I think we can suffer for a few days."

"We could get two double beds and put them in the corners with a divider," Jesus said as he pointed.

"Yeah. Share a wardrobe or get another one?"

"Look at the medieval scholar," he laughed. "We can share. We need clothes."

"Yeah. Maybe they have some."

* * *

Glenn's mouth dropped open when he walked into his and Maggie's new room. "Shit," he breathed out.

"No kiddin', Glenn," Maggie whispered.

"Why are you whispering?"

"I feel like I should," she answered quietly.

He laughed. "I can't wait to see the bathroom."

"Carl said Daryl and Michonne had a big tub."

When they walked in and turned on the light, Glenn didn't think he could be any more impressed. "We're definitely using it."

* * *

Abraham wiggled his eyebrows up and down when they saw the tub. "Nice."

She laughed. "We'll be using this, I'm sure."

"Yeah, we will, darlin'."

Sasha walked back into the bedroom. "This is huge."

"Queen bed."

"I'm impressed," she admitted in a low tone. "She's funny."

"She's nothing like Deanna," he responded.

"No. She's nothing like Deanna."

* * *

Rick had heard about Daryl and Michonne's room from Carl, but he hadn't appreciated what his son had told him. The bed was huge and so was the bathroom.

"Do you think we could have double beds, Dad?" Carl asked.

"I don't see why not, Carl. I think Tom said they had roll-a-ways. I can ask how to get one and see how we could get different beds."

"I'll sleep on the roll-a-way, Dad. I did before. It wasn't bad. Better than the cots we used to have."

"We need clothes, too, Carl."

"I'm sure they have some."

"Maybe. We'll ask Tom."

"Or Michonne or Daryl or Jenny."

"Come on, Carl. We need to go get a tour."

He watched as his son practically skipped to the door. "Dad? This place is huge. You can see everything from the battlements," Rick heard for the umpteenth time.

When they finally got to the lobby Rick wasn't surprised to see Maggie and Glenn checking out the calendar.

"Well?"

"She wasn't kidding, Rick. They have French classes. Russian classes. German classes. Cherokee classes. Spanish classes." Glenn pointed to them as he read.

"Yoga. Kickboxing. Sewing." Maggie copied him.

"The patrol is on here, the hoedown, jazz nights, matinees," Glenn continued to list.

"What don't they do?" Sasha asked from behind him.

"Nothing I can see." Maggie drooped. "They even have harvests on here," she pointed it out as she flipped a page.

"We need to know what's going on," a young boy's voice came from the front door. "Hi. I'm Mark. Tom's my dad. He asked me to give you a tour. Hi, Carl."

"Hi, Mark. Where's Jenny?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Probably with Rand somewhere."

The question from Carl of, "Is she still in trouble?" had him looking between the two boys in confusion. The woman ran this place, didn't she?

"No, she's been good, my dad said, so Seth, Waya and Adrian lifted the lockdown." He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we can start in the keep or outside. You can pick."

"Outside," Carl answered right away.

"Okay. We'll start with the apothecary."

* * *

Maggie's mouth fell open when they walked into the apothecary. She wasn't payin' attention to Mark as she walked around and looked at all the clothes and shoes that were there.

"What in the hell?" she heard Sasha yell.

"You can pick up clothes and shoes in here," Mark pointed to the shelves. "'Days of Yore' stuff is The Castle stuff."

"Is that the name of this place?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah. The Castle is Ward's Castle, I think. We just call it The Castle. You need to let my dad know what you take. He keeps track of it all."

"Where did all this come from?" Glenn coughed.

"Bridgewater. Daryl, Michonne, Seth, Waya, Adrian and Tsula cleaned out the town. We had crap all over the bailey. Me and Tsula put most of it away," the boy sighed heavily. "We worked on it for days," he huffed.

"Where was Rand?" Rick questioned as he looked at the jeans.

"Rescuing us," he hooted. "She killed the bad guys. I saw her cut one of their heads off. She said when I turn eighteen she'll teach me how to use a sword." Maggie saw the boy shrug. "I don't get why everyone was mad at her. She can take care of herself."

* * *

"Another one who wants to be her when he grows up," Jesus laughed softly.

"No kidding," Aaron laughed just as quietly.

"They cleaned out the town?" Glenn's voice rose.

* * *

"Yeah. The houses, bars, restaurants, stores. Everything. It took us weeks to put it all away," Mark repeated. "We were still working on it when Daryl, Michonne, Seth, Waya and Adrian came back. Once they got the guns finished, and they helped, it went faster."

"What guns?" Abraham stopped.

"They raided Seth and Adrian's base," the kid replied.

"What?" Abraham shouted.

Mark frowned. "What?"

"They raided a base?"

Mark shrugged again. "Yeah. They came back with guns and gas."

"Where was Rand?" he gawked at the kid.

"She got shot so she had to stay here and help."

* * *

Rick almost choked. They raided a base. Shit. This woman was so far out of his league.

"Hey, dad, can Michonne or Rand teach me how to use a sword?" Carl's question made him clear his throat.

"Uh, I'll think about it, Carl."

He smiled. "Cool."

"If you want to come back, you know so we can finish this, just tell my dad what you take," Mark reiterated.

"Right," he whispered and followed Mark outside.

Carl was right. The Castle was huge. Walking the battlements took them the better part of two hours. Everyone had to stop and look out the windows carved into the stone. Abraham, Jesus and Aaron would periodically point out how far you could see in every direction. Hell, he wished he'd found this place. Maybe they should have stopped at a hotel. Damn it.

* * *

Sasha goggled at the mill when Mark pointed it out. He explained how it worked and how Rand was still trying to automate it. Glen, the old resident, was there and gave a demonstration of how they took wheat and made it into flour. It looked time consuming and hard.

The smithy actually had someone there trying to make horseshoes. It was kind of fun watching the man heat up the metal, pound on it, dip it in water and watch it steam.

"I'm Anton. I'm trying to learn this," he snorted and pointed to the book. "I used to work with metal, on a smaller scale. I made jewelry before," he explained at her look.

"It looks cool," Carl whooped.

"It's hard work."

"I'm Carl Grimes," he introduced himself.

"It's hard, Carl. I've almost got it down. If you want to learn or help ask Janet."

"Okay."

* * *

Aaron was impressed by the greenhouses. He was impressed with everything.

"Hemp?" he asked the woman, Megan, who was working in one.

"Yeah. Industrial."

"Why?" Maggie asked.

"Rope, cloth and maybe toilet paper. Rand's still working on it."

"She works on a lot," Glenn muttered.

"She does," Megan responded coolly with narrowed eyes.

"We want to be her when we grow up," Aaron joked.

"Stand in line, buddy," she laughed. "She's a good person. I'm glad Daryl and Michonne found us."

"They recruited you?"

"Yeah. Rand sent them out because they're her advisors so they'd know who to bring back."

"We're glad we're here, too," Glenn returned.

* * *

Abraham stared with a grin on his face at the amount of weapons in the guardroom. Mark said this was just one storage area and they had another one next to the icehouse.

"Jesus Christ on a pogo stick. Would you look at the beauty before you?" he cackled maniacally. He was going to like living here. He felt the need to walk around and touch them all. "Hello, honey," he crooned to AR15 on the wall as he pulled it down.

"Did you want to be alone?" Jesus asked semi-seriously.

"You're weird," Mark stated.

"Son, there is nothing more beautiful in the world than a weapon of this caliber. Unless it's a pretty woman holding a weapon of this caliber," Abraham hummed.

He didn't care the rest of his group was laughing at him. Sash just rolled her eyes as he put it back. "I'm going to write my name on one of these bad boys," he promised.

He hadn't paid much attention to the other rooms, except the icehouse, which was stocked with food, and the other weapons storage, where he saw RPG's. "Hell's bells. I would have liked to have done one of these," he muttered as he picked it up and looked it over. He was going to like living here.

* * *

Michonne hadn't been lying, Glenn decided, after they'd been here a week. He hardly ever saw her or Daryl or Rand. Between trying to find his way around (it took him a few days), trying to get to know the other residents, watch and helping with the animals, it was a big place and always looked busy. It was busy. He saw people sitting around on the benches or the tables in the bailey, sure, but not all the time. He'd even seen some of the residents playing with swords. He didn't know if it was a class or for fun.

Maggie alternated between being sad Crazy Ass was gone or happy she was here. Glenn didn't like the fact they lost yet another home, but he had a feeling this would be the last one, even if the Fort and Blue Mountain made the town in Bridgewater. He still lived with a group of people but he'd never know it with the large size rooms or the goings on in The Castle. The only time he thought about it was at lunch and dinner.

* * *

Maggie liked living at The Castle. She started yoga right away. She knew it probably wouldn't make a difference with the first patrol she'd do, but it would on the others. It was hard. Glenn, Sasha, Aaron and Jesus still played hacky sack together while Carl chose to play with Jenny, Mark, Tsula, Demarcus, Lupe and the other kids.

She understood why those people did patrol. She'd always thought it was a good idea when she found out they did it, but now she found she didn't mind the idea of walking around to make sure no one was in their territory who was an asshole.

Michonne was right that it was a big place. Maggie and Glenn talked about how they rarely saw Daryl or Michonne. Rand, she saw, was all over, sometimes with them, sometimes not.

Rand still called her 'Ms. Greene'. She always used titles with her group. Always. Except Aaron. He saw how the wind was blowing and never told her his last name. Rick would grimace when she called him 'Deputy Grimes'. Carl started to pout when she continually addressed him as 'Mr. Grimes'. When she heard Rand call Jesus 'Paul' she looked at the woman's back in surprise as she walked away.

"How'd you do that?" Maggie questioned right after she'd heard it.

"I told her my name was 'Paul' but some people called me 'Jesus'." He shrugged. "She started calling me by my name."

"That's it?" she almost screeched.

"Yeah.

She hadn't had a chance to tell the woman to call her by her first name so she was still called 'Ms. Greene'.

* * *

Sasha was fucking amazed at everything they did here. She didn't listen when Carl was telling the rest of Crazy Ass what The Castle did when he came back. She didn't care because she wasn't there. They had a good place, too. They had food, fences, weapons and people who knew. She even started playing hacky sack to increase her stamina.

They weren't all fun and games. They'd been given papers by Tom for drills and the backup place. When she and Abraham had reviewed them she realized this woman DID NOT fuck around. No one in their right mind would attack this place, she'd seen the fences the first time she came here for patrol, but it wouldn't make any damn difference even if they did. The woman had _planned_.

Crazy Ass had been a good place but if she'd had the choice? She would have come here. Rand ran circles around Tony and Ash. She missed them a little. Sometimes she wished her and Ty had tried for the mountains instead.

* * *

Rick was settling down nicely at The Castle. Unlike Alexandria, but like Crazy Ass, everyone here was prepared. Better prepared than Crazy Ass. Rand was a good leader. He was sure, like everyone else in his group, he wished they'd found her before Aaron found them. Aaron wouldn't be with them, true, but he wouldn't have had to go through the bullshit of the Wolves or the Saviors.

He kicked his own ass for not following Daryl. Judith could've be here, living, playing and learning languages.

He'd been so busy trying to get used to the place and not get lost he never saw Daryl or Michonne. He'd seen Rand a few times. She seemed to be around, something he'd not been able to do when he took over Alexandria.

* * *

Carl still liked living here, the things they had and did, but he hated school. Hannah had been a good teacher, but Helen, Rand, Tom and Jamal were tough teachers. He hated science class with Rand. Hated it. Tom was okay with math but he was still a tough grader. He was getting a report card. He couldn't believe he was getting a report card.

Jenny said she got one and Rand was all over her when she didn't do her best.

"I hate school," he whined to his dad after he flopped on his double bed one night after dinner.

His dad laughed. "Why?"

"Ugh, Dad," he moaned. "It's hard. I hate science. Rand's classes are hard."

Carl didn't mind sharing a room with his dad. The rooms were huge. He knew that from when he stayed with Michonne and Daryl. He'd even talked his dad into a divider like Aaron and Jesus had in their room.

He knew Glenn was kind of irritated he wasn't on the run team to go get their beds, Rand already had one, but he liked this bed better than his other one. Both of them were still better than those sucky cots, though.

He didn't see a lot of Michonne and Daryl and Jasper. He spent a lot of time with Rand. She still called him 'Mr. Grimes'.

"'Mr. Grimes'," he imitated. "'What is the end result of pollination? Mr. Grimes, how many planets in this solar system? Mr. Grimes, what are the characteristics of tomato seeds?' Ugh." Carl sat up. "Does she still call you 'Deputy Grimes'?"

"Yeah."

"She calls Jesus by his name. Why won't she do it for us? What the hell, Dad?" he ended in a shout.

"Carl, watch your language. She calls Jesus by his name because he asked her, too. Ask her to call you 'Carl'."

"Oh," he deflated. "Are you going to?"

"Yeah, when I get a chance. The title doesn't mean anythang anymore."

Carl grinned. "You like it here. Better than Crazy Ass."

"Carl," his dad sighed. "Crazy Ass was a good place."

"Yeah, but this one's better."

* * *

"Carl," Rick sighed again. He wouldn't admit The Castle was better than Crazy Ass. Crazy Ass had been a good place after everythang they'd gone through. It had been nicer than the prison, no doubt, but it was the people that had made it. The people at The Castle were the same. Better, if he was honest with himself. They put themselves out there, he'll have to put himself out there, for their protection. The protection of the other communities.

He looked down at his new cowboy boots he'd taken from the apothecary. He wasn't doing a patrol in them so he'd need to get some hiking boots. Walking for that long in his boots was somethang he didn't want to do again. Once was enough.

Later that night, laying in his bed, listening to Carl breathe, he smiled. He missed Hannah and Taylor, Tony and Ash, the others, but him and Carl would do just fine here. Just fine.


End file.
